Mischief
by Great White Snake
Summary: "Well then..." Elizabeth began, looking over to her sister "I guess it all started when we got our letters..." - Some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle, and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, tacking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity...
1. The Letters

"Elizabeth Rose Granger, wake up!"

It was June 9, 1991. The time was half-past nine in the morning, and everyone was up and about in the Granger household. Everyone except Elizabeth Rose Granger, twin sister to Hermione Jean Granger. Even though the two girls were twins, they were nothing alike. While they both had brown hair, Hermione's was frizzy and bushy, whereas Elizabeth's was smooth and wavy. The former had brown eyes, the latter had blue-green eyes. But it wasn't just their looks that differed; their personalities did as well. Hermione, who was older by about six minutes, was very mature for her age. She spent most of her time reading, studying or practicing for her piano recitals; the girl had a no-nonsense attitude. Elizabeth, on the other hand, spent most of her time daydreaming, writing impossible stories and plucking at her guitar which she got two years ago; she was a natural. Elizabeth, or Lizzie, was a loud, sarcastic, cunning and hot-headed young girl with her head in the clouds. She was always talking nonsense. Nonsense to her sister and parents anyway. The only thing that the two girls had in common was their intelligence; both were smart to the point of being annoying.

Today was a regular day for the two of them and their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. Hermione would be up at the crack of dawn and start to study for no reason. When her parents would rise around eight o'clock, she'd begin practicing her piano skills and then at nine she'd stop. At that time, Lizzie wouldn't be awake yet; she'd only get up around ten o'clock when brunch would be served. Hermione would spent the next half-hour trying to rouse her sister, then, their mother would interrupt them saying that breakfast was ready, and Elizabeth would spring out of bed and run downstairs. By the time Hermione and Mrs. Granger would get downstairs, Lizzie would be finishing up her food and running back upstairs to put on some random clothes and drag her guitar outside to annoy the neighbours with her singing. This is what happened every Sunday of the year; the routine never changed. That was until today.

As Elizabeth plucked her guitar string once more and her neighbour closed the open window on the side of their house, she spotted an owl perched upon the fence. She thought it odd since owls were nocturnal. Shouldn't it be sleeping right now? Mind you, it wouldn't be the first odd thing to happen to her. She once made someone's hair turn into pasta just by thinking about it. The young girl set her guitar down and slowly approached the bird out of curiosity. It's big yellow eyes bore into her olive green ones as Elizabeth stretched her hand towards the bird. The owl screeched gently, causing her to slightly jump back, and flew onto the back of the chair in front of her. That's when she noticed the envelope that was strung to it's leg. Lizzie thought it to be a bizarre envelope, since it seemed weathered and yellow, like a piece of parchment she would see in museums on school outings. The coffee coloured bird bent down and undid the loose bow that tied the letter to its ankle and nudged it towards her. Elizabeth sat on the chair opposite to the fowl and took the envelope between her fingers. It was stamped with a red wax seal, a strange coat of arms featuring a badger, snake, lion and eagle, embossed onto it. The back of the letter showed her name, address and backyard written in beautiful green-inked cursive. If Hermione had gotten such a letter, she would have brought it to her parents straight away, by fear of it being dangerous or something or the sort. Lizzie, however, didn't care much for showing her parents. After all, it was addressed to her, in the backyard too. She lookd over her shoulder to make sure her parents weren't there and carefully opened the envelope, the owl carefully watching as she did so. The note inside was even stranger than the outside. 

* * *

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**

 **Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**

 _(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

Dear Miss Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  
Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Minerva McGonagall,  
Deputy Headmistress

* * *

What? Albus Dumbledore? Supreme Mugwump? Owls? What did this all mean? Elizabeth had no idea. She re-read the letter at least three times before considering the possibility that she, Elizabeth Rose Granger, was a witch. It wouldn't be impossible. Would she would be able to turn people into toads and make obscure potions in a cauldron? Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Would she have to buy a broom? A cauldron? A black cat? 

* * *

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**

 **First-year students will require:**

 _Uniform_

\- Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
\- One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
\- One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)  
\- One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)  
 **Please note that all student's clothes should carry name-tags.**

 _Books_

\- The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk  
\- A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot  
\- Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling  
\- A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch  
\- One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore  
\- Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger  
\- Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander  
\- The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble

 _Other Equipment_

\- 1 wand  
\- 1 cauldron (Pewter, standard size 2)  
\- 1 set of glass or crystal phials  
\- 1 telescope  
\- 1 set of brass scales  
 ** _Students may also bring an Owl OR a Cat OR a Toad_**

* * *

Elizabeth was smiling from ear to ear. She couldn't believe what she was reading. Wands, cauldrons and pets? Dark forces, potions and transfiguration? This couldn't be real. Suddenly, Lizzie felt a light tap on her shoulder. She jumped and turned around, revealing her sister, Hermione, who was also grinning from ear to ear.

"Have you seen this?!" she exclaimed  
"I've only just read it about four times!"  
"What do you think? I mean, do you think it's real?" Hermione asked  
"I hope so!" Elizabeth replied "I mean... magic school? How brilliant is that?"  
"And an owl brought the letter to my window. An owl, Liz!"  
"Me too!" the younger twin giggled "The envelope was even addressed to me in the backyard!"  
"Have you told Mum and Dad?" Hermione asked  
"No, you?" Elizabeth asked, hoping her parents accepted  
"Yes I have." her sister replied proudly  
"Well, spill the beans, Mione!"  
"They've accepted!"  
"Really!?" Liz shrieked "This is bloody brilliant! I'm going to make potions and transform teacups into frogs and-"  
"Calm down, Lizzie!" Hermione breathed "We still need to get our school supplies."  
"Right..." she pondered for a moment "And where would that happen?"

Hermione rummaged through the papers in the envelope an owl had delivered to her through her bedroom window. She didn't find anything telling her where or when to go. This was a problem for sure. But first, Liz and Mione needed to get confirmation from their parents. Maybe they knew where to go? The girls rushed back inside and jumped for joy when their parents said that they could both go this... Hogwarts school. The problem was, they didn't know how or where to buy their things, but no matter; they'd figure it out eventually. Elizabeth and Hermione then ran up to their rooms and asked each other many questions about what each of them thought the school would look like, what they would learn and all the bizarre stuff they'd probably see. Being this excited was so very unlike Hermione, but it wasn't a foreign concept to Elizabeth. Soon after the conversation had veered to the taboo subject of cute and charming boys (A/N: Pun totally intended), the doorbell rang. The twins didn't even know until their mother came to the door to tell them someone was here to see them. Lizzie and her sister slowly came downstairs and walked into the living room. Her eyes fell upon a man and a woman dressed in strange clothing. They must be robes; like in the list. The woman, who seemed older than she probably was, wore emerald green robes and a pointed black hat. Her greying hair was tied in a tight bun and small oval glasses were placed in front of her bright blue eyes. Her expression was stern, yet warm and welcoming at the same time. The man, who was seated next to her, did not wear the same expression. He was void of emotion. His mouth was set in a straight line and his hands were pressed firmly together on his lap. He wore obsidian robes and his hair, that was the same color, fell neatly on either side of his face. While Hermione thought him terrifying, as she voiced after the two left, Elizabeth found the man intriguing. The man caught her staring and she averted her eyes. Even though she found him intriguing, didn't mean he didn't scare her a little.

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger if you would have a seat-" the woman in emerald robes began "we can discuss the letters your daughters have received today."

The twins' parents complied and sat on either side of their children.

"My name is Professor Minerva McGonagall and this is Professor Severus Snape. We teach transfiguration and potions, respectively, at Hogwarts. Now, as you may already know, your daughters each received letters from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry because they have earned a place."  
"Why is that?" Elizabeth asked  
"Have you ever made something happen that didn't ever seem possible?" the woman asked  
"I once turned a boy's hair into pasta." Lizzie chuckled "I threatened to eat his head."

Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked at her as if she had grown a second head. Her sarcasm was never appreciated. McGonagall's eyebrows furrowed whereas Snape's mouth twitched upward.

"What?" Elizabeth sighed looking at her sister "The guy was a prat."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"And you miss Granger?"  
"I might have made things disappear." she said  
"Well, then, if you have, it makes sense. You two are both witches, dears."

Elizabeth and Hermione's eyes lit up. They had confirmation of their thoughts; the two of them were able to perform magic. Lizzie didn't turn that boy's hair into pasta for nothing after all. Over the next hour, the two Hogwarts professors explained to the Granger family everything they needed to know; houses, classes, the school - which was a castle -, Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express. The two left by something called 'apparating' and the two girls went back to their room to talk some more. Obviously, the first topic of conversation were the professors who were their home only a few minutes ago. Hermione immediately became attached to Minerva's similar attitude but didn't seem to appreciate Severus as much.

"How can you find him intriguing?" Hermione gasped "The man was terrifying."  
"He was intimidating, not terrifying, Mione. There's a difference." Elizabeth sighed "you're supposed to be smart."  
"Very funny." the older twin said snidely "What house do you think you'll be in? I think I'll be in Ravenclaw."  
"I think we'd both be able to go in Ravenclaw, but I want to be in Slytherin."  
"Why Slytherin? From what I've seen from Snape, it doesn't look like the nicest house."  
"Whatever, I just don't want to be stuck with a bunch of study freaks in Ravenclaw." Liz chuckled "No offense, Mione."  
"None taken." she replied "I guess we'll figure it out on our first day. Let's just concentrate on getting our school supplies first."  
"Diagon Alley, here we come!" Elizabeth shouted, raising her fist in the air "Well, tomorrow anyway..."


	2. Diagon Alley

"Are we there yet?"  
"No, Lizzie."  
"How about _now_?"  
"No."  
"What about-"  
" _Elizabeth Rose, be quiet!_ "

Green eyes rolled and a sigh escaped the younger twin's mouth. They'd left home a while ago and were headed to the Leaky Cauldron, in London. Yesterday, the two Hogwarts professors had told them how to get there and into Diagon Alley. It was a simple process that consisted in tapping a few bricks on a bare wall in the back; nothing a few muggles couldn't handle. Elizabeth, having the same boredom tolerance as a toddler, was sitting impatiently in the back of the car. She was playing with the hem of her skirt and twirling the golden bands of her fingers. Liz couldn't understand how Hermione could contain all her excitement; after all, she was the one who had mused about using magic the most. Losing my Religon by R.E.M began playing on the radio; music always had calmed the younger twin. Elizabeth was humming every sound and tapping her fingers in the same rhythm. Finally Hermione and the girls' parents could have some peace and quiet from all of Lizzie's complaining.

After another short period of driving and three songs later, they had arrived to _Charing Cross Road_ , and a building that seemed abandoned to Mr. and Mrs. Granger. But to Elizabeth and Hermione, the sign that read " **The Leaky Cauldron** " was as clear as day. Elizabeth grasped her sister's hand and dragged Hermione to the entrance of the building. The dark door and sign reflected well the interior; it was all grey. The damaged walls were grey, the old moving pictures were grey, the dirty floor was grey, even the people were grey. But although the pub seemed very dull, it didn't feel that way; it felt lively. Liz scanned the room with excited eyes. A small group of women were huddled in a corner, sipping on mugs of steaming amber liquid. A man sat alone at the bar, eating something that resembled Mrs. Granger's Guinness stew and another sat at a table reading a funny-looking newspaper as he stirred his coffee without even touching it. Both girls were mesmerized by all of this, but only Elizabeth cared to show it; Hermione only wore a small smile. The former then dragged her sister to the back of the building and came upon a solid brick wall. Liz remembered the combination of bricks and taps, and preformed them in the correct way. Suddenly, the first brick she tapped sank and the others around it began twisting, sinking and sliding away until the wall was completely gone. Stepping across the threshold, the twins took careful steps toward what looked like the busiest shopping mall they'd ever seen. The narrow street, which was in fact an alley called Diagon, featured colourful shop fronts and thousands of witches and wizards walking around. Children were running, spells were shimmering and owls, cats and toads were flying, walking and hopping all around. The bustling alley was home to dozens of shops waiting to be entered in. Hermione and Elizabeth went in each store systematically and purchased everything they needed after going to exchange money at _Gringotts Wizarding Bank_. They bought their cauldrons and potion-making ingredients at _The Cauldron Shop_ and the _Apothecary_. Quills, parchment and school books were purchased at the _Stationery Shop_ and _Flourish and Blotts_ , respectively. The two girls were fitted for their robes at _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_ and spent a few minutes in _Gambol & Japes_, the joke shop. Next, was the _Magical Menagerie_ , where Hermione and Elizabeth would be getting their pets. When the girls had passed _Eeylops Owl Emporium_ , Liz told herself she was going to get herself an owl, but then she remembered she had always wanted a cat. I guess she would go look at the owls later. The twins entered the _Magical Menagerie_ and were met with hundreds of cages housing different animals. The space was cramped and the shop very noisy. The eldest immediately decided to not get any animals. Elizabeth thought it was stupid not to. As she wandered the small room, green eyes fell upon blue ones. That was the one. Liz had found the perfect cat for her; it had dazzling blue eyes, sleek brown fur and a spot of white on its chest. The younger half of the duo purchased her pet and named him Aslan*.

Next up was the part both girls were dreading as much as hoping; their wands. They slowly walked into _Ollivander's_ famous wand shop and examined their surroundings; it was dark, dusty and filled with long rectangular boxes that probably housed each and every wand they'd ever made. Soon enough, a older man with white hair came into the room. He introduced himself as Mr. Ollivander, the owner. Hermione went first in choosing her wand. The process was quite bizarre; the man would ask her a few questions then hand her a wand, asking her to wave it. If it didn't send boxes flying, it was good. Eventually, Hermione received a 10 ¾ inch vine wood wand, with a dragon heartstring core. Now, it was Lizzie's turn. She stepped up to the counter and looked expectantly at the man.

"Well, well, if it isn't Elizabeth Rose Granger."  
"Am I supposed to be famous or something? I'm not Harry Potter, you know." the younger twin quipped  
"We shall see..." came Ollivander's cryptic reply

The old man left the counter and went to the back to fetch a box and the bottom of the shelf to the girls' left. He placed it on the counter and opened the box, revealing a pale stick of wood.

"Birch, nine inches, springy, unicorn hair." he said, placing the wand into Lizzie's hand "Good for charms... Give it a wave."

Elizabeth did as she was told and waved the wand in front of her. A few boxes fell from the shelf to her right, then in front, then to her left; a chain reaction. Ollivander took the wand back and placed it to the side before going to fetch another.

"Mahogany, twelve inches, brittle, unicorn hair." he placed the wand in her hand "Good for transfiguration."

The young witch waved her wand and caused a small explosion behind Mr. Ollivander as well as causing the doorbell to ring incessantly. The old man took the wand from her and gazed into the young girl's eyes.

"Do you ever rely on first impressions, my dear?"  
"Why are you asking me this?" Elizabeth replied  
"Do always answer a question with another question?" Ollivander asked  
"Do you?"

The man smiled knowingly and said he knew the exact wand for her. Elizabeth didn't know why he seemed so happy about this, but she trusted him; he'd give her the wand she'd deserve. Ollivander went to the farthest part of the store and reached to the highest shelf possible, removing the dustiest box she'd seen so far. From that box, he removed a dark wand, which had a twisted handle and a smooth end.

"Willow, eleven inches, unyeilding, dragon heartstring." the man said, gently holding onto the wand "It is perfect for the dark arts; be careful with this one..."

Elizabeth's eyes went wide and a small gasp escaped her sister's lips. The dark arts? Surely he meant preforming spells against the dark arts? Well, at least she hoped. The old man softly placed the wand in her hand and the room immediately became warm and a soft light brightened the room. The wand had chosen her, just like Hermione's wand had chosen her sister. Mr. and Mrs. Granger paid for their children's wands and they exited, promising them to stop by _Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour_. On the way, the girls' parents kept telling them that sugar was bad and that they shouldn't forget to eat properly at Hogwarts. Dentists... Hermione seemed to be listening intently, whereas Elizabeth was staring at all the ice cream flavours in the parlour; she couldn't care less what her parents thought right now. Hermione got one scoop of orange marmalade flavoured ice cream, but Elizabeth, being the odd child that she was, got two scoops; one chocolate-chili and the other earl-grey and lavender. The older twin and their parents cringed at the combination, while Liz was overjoyed; it tasted fantastic! But it was missing something, so as Hermione, Mr. and Mrs. Granger went outside and sat down, the other twin went back inside and got an extra topping; it was only a few sickles after all. When she turned around and exited the shop, she bumped into something. She checked her ice cream; it was safe.

"Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Elizabeth chuckled

The girl looked up and was met with a pair of sharp grey eyes and a head of bleached blonde hair. The narrow and pointed face belonged to a boy about her age. His pale hair was slicked back with way too much gel and his face was contorted in a semi-permanent sneer.

"I can see that." the boy replied  
"Well, excuse me, my boring family is waiting for me."  
"Wait!"

Elizabeth turned back around and saw the boy had his hand outstretched towards her, a smile on his face. She thought he looked better with a smile.

"The name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy." he said  
"Cool name." Liz smiled and shook his hand "I'm Elizabeth Granger."  
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Ella."  
"Ella? That's a new one..."

The two laughed and said their goodbyes, before Elizabeth's parents called her over. Luckily, they didn't ask too many questions about the boy she had just met; Liz didn't want to have the stranger-danger conversation once more. Although her sister was eyeing her suspiciously, she didn't ask questions as Elizabeth, or now, Ella, furiously ate her strange combination of ice cream. According to Ella, today had been the best day of her eleven-year old life.


	3. Hogwarts

Summer had gone by faster than the sisters had expected. Both Hermione and Elizabeth had spent most of it looking over their new school books. The older sibling had found Transfiguration and History of Magic particularly interesting, whereas the youngest preferred Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts and the concept of Quidditch rather fascinating. Liz would groan when Hermione wanted her to pay more attention when she turned a match into a needle, and the roles would be reversed when Elizabeth went on and on about jinxes and powerful drafts. Although both had taken notes in their books and practiced a few spells, only Ella attempted to brew a few potions. Both had managed to perform the knockback jinx fairly well, which had made Hermione and Elizabeth sore since they used each other as targets instead she was the of a stuffed giraffe or teddy bear. On the very first try, Elizabeth had created a perfect cure for boils; a potion they would learn during the year. Well, according to her books anyway. Liz had an affinity for potion-making, apparently. The younger sister had also become quite attached to her furry friend. Aslan would run across the room to fetch ingredients for Elizabeth when she asked him too. A very smart cat he was. He was also very affectionate when he wasn't busy fetching dried nettles, porcupine quills or sun-bathing on the window sill.

At nine o'clock in the morning on September first, 1991, Hermione had surprisingly been woken up, not by her mother, but by Elizabeth who had already packed her trunk, gotten dressed and woken up her parents to make breakfast. Hermione had questioned her sister's attire, but gave up arguing with her after she Elizabeth threatened to take all her books away. After the two had finished eating around nine thirty, the twins put all their things into the trunk of their parent's car and began their drive to the London Train Station. When they had arrived, the two girls took out the tickets they had received the day Professors Snape and McGonagall had come. It read _Platform 9 ¾_. But that couldn't be possible could it? That would mean that it's in between platforms nine and ten. Mind you, this is magic we're dealing with. Mr. and Mrs. Granger kissed their children's foreheads, much to Elizabeth's reluctance, and left the two girls in front of the platforms nine and ten.

"What do you suppose we do now?" Hermione asked  
"I thought you were the smart one." Elizabeth chuckled  
"Very funny, Liz."

The two sisters thought for a bit as to how they were going to get to their platform. They had an hour to waste anyway. Suddenly, Elizabeth got an idea so bizarre it actually might work. After all, they were going to magic school...

"Why don't we just walk through the wall?"  
"Are you mad? The platform is 9 ¾, not half." the eldest replied "It's basic math."  
"We're witches; I guess we are mad." Elizabeth chuckled dramatically "And I don't think wizards care about math, Mione."

Ella grabbed hold of her cart which held her cat, trunk and other items and faced the wall. Hermione was about to protest, but her sister was already making a run for the wall. What was the worst that could happen? Just inches before Elizabeth hit the wall, Hermione let out a high pitched squeal and covered her eyes. But rather than smashing into a wall of red brick, when Liz hit the wall, she went through and was met with an amazing sight. On the other side of the brick wall sat a magnificent scarlet steam engine marked Hogwarts Express. Puffs of smoke surrounded bundles of people as they walked in, out and around the train. A few seconds later, Elizabeth was joined by her sister who had figured her trick worked.

"Told you we're mad." Liz smiled "But it's brilliant."  
"Definitely." Hermione smiled in return

The two girls made their way to the center of the station were a man took their trunks and placed them in a separate compartment underneath the train. A voice was heard yelling " _ten minutes_ ", which meant the girls had to get on the train. Elizabeth and Hermione boarded the train and found an empty compartment to sit in. Aslan had come along with Elizabeth; she thought it cruel to leave him alone in there. She placed the cage on one side of the compartment and opened it, letting the blue-eyed cat stretch its legs and walk around. A few minutes later, a whistle sounded and the train began to move. The twins then got the same idea: open your books. Hermione got hold of Hogwarts: A History and began reading it a third time while Ella re-read Magical Drafts and Potions. Somewhere along the way, a boy named Neville came into their compartment complaining about his lost toad, Trevor. Hermione offered to help, whereas the other twin groaned and went back to reading. Elizabeth was absorbed by her book, but was interrupted by Aslan who hissed. The brunette looked up and was met with two heads of bright red hair. They were twin boys.

"Can I help you?" she inquired  
"Well, your cat saved you-" the first began  
"From a hair disaster." the other finished  
"Well, then." Liz turned to her cat "Thank you, Aslan."

The feline meowed and curled up beside her, his head on Elizabeth's lap.

"I'm Fred." the one to the left said  
"I'm George." the other continued  
"And we're the Weasley twins!" they said simultaneously  
" _Fascinating_." Lizzie replied, her eyebrows raised "I'm Elizabeth Granger."  
"Nice to meet you, Ellie!" Fred and George chorused  
"I can already tell we're going to be the best of friends." Fred smiled cheekily  
"Hey, don't leave me out of this!" George complained  
"You're just jealous because she thinks I'm more attractive."  
"Fred, you two look exactly alike." Elizabeth chuckled  
"No we don't!" the two joked "I'm way sexier! No, I am!"  
"Boys, boys!" Liz laughed "Calm down."

And so, the majority of the trip went as such. Fred and George would constantly tell Liz to close her eyes, and they'd switch places. Elizabeth would have to guess who was who; she got it right every time. The Weasley twins would then talk about the teachers, the classes, the sorting ceremony, but most of all the sweets they'd eat and the pranks they'd pull off. Liz found the twins fantastic. After a while, the twins left with another student called, Lee Jordan. They'd introduced her and told Ellie that they'd talk to her later because they had an "annoying prat" to prank. Elizabeth then decided to try and find her sister; she had been gone for a while. Finding a toad couldn't possibly be that difficult. Green eyes scanned every compartment until she found her sister sitting in a compartment with two boys. The taller one had flaming red hair, similar to Fred and George's, blue eyes and a long nose. The other, who was a lot shorter, had jet black hair and green eyes similar to Elizabeth's. Liz knocked and entered as Hermione was pointing her wand at one of them.

"I hope you aren't hexing him, Hermione." Elizabeth joked  
"No, I'm fixing his glasses." she replied sternly  
"Calm down, it was just a joke. No need to get your knickers in a twist."

Hermione concentrated again and chanted Oculus Reparo. Immediately, the boy's glasses were fixed. He removed them amazed and his hair moved, revealing a scar every witch and wizard knew all to well.

" _Bloody hell_!" Elizabeth gasped, sitting next to her sister "You're Harry Potter!"  
"Elizabeth, watch your language." Hermione said angrily  
"Yes, _mother_." Liz replied sarcastically "I'm Elizabeth Granger, and this is my _unfortunate_ sister, Hermione."  
"And you are?" Hermione asked, looking over to the red-haired boy while ignoring her sister's last comment  
"I'm... Ron Weasley." he replies, his mouth full  
"Pleasure..." the older twin says, slightly disgusted "You two better change into your robes. I expect we'll be arriving soon."

Hermione gets up and beckons to her sister, who stays with the boys. But before Hermione can leave for good, she turns back and looks at Ron.

"You've got dirt on your nose, did you know? Just there." she says, pointing to a spot on her nose

Ron wipes the dirt off, slightly embarrassed and Hermione leaves, back to the compartment in which the two sisters had arrived. Elizabeth sighed and ran her fingers through her hair.

"Sorry, about her." she chuckled "She's quite a handful, that one. By the way, I met your brothers, Fred and George earlier."  
"Well, I'm sorry about them. They can be a handful as well."

The three of them chuckled and talked for the rest of the trip all while eating obscene amounts of sweets. About an hour later, the train blows its whistle and pulls into an outdoor station. People begin pouring out of the train. Ron, Harry and Elizabeth disembark together and follow a giant man whom Harry called Hagrid. He held a lantern and was calling out for all the first years to follow him on a dark path. Harry seemed to trust him, therefore Elizabeth did as well. Hermione eventually found her sister and her new friends and the four of them got onto the same boat Hagrid had instructed to get on. The foursome sailed quietly across what Hermione had told us was the Black Lake, home of the Giant Squid. What could be seen up ahead had every child in awe. The Hogwarts castle windows and grounds shone brightly in the darkness of the night. It was like the school twinkled like thousands of stars. The boats eventually made it to shore and all the students had to walk a short while to the front doors of the school. There stood Professor McGonagall, in her usual emerald robes and pointed black hat.

"Welcome to Hogwarts." Minerva began "Now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates. But before you can take your seats you must be sorted into your houses. They are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Now, while you are here, your house will be like your family, your triumphs will earn you house points; any rule breaking, and you will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."

Suddenly, the boy whom Hermione and Elizabeth had met - Neville - ran up to the front and shouted his toad's name. He crouched down and took him then apologized to Professor McGonagall for interrupting. She gave him a stern look then continued her speech.

"The sorting ceremony will begin momentarily."

The older woman then leaves and everyone begins whispering. Just then, a few groans are heard from the back as a boy pushes to the front of the group of young witches and wizards; it's none other than Draco Malfoy.

"Is it true then, what they're saying on the train? Harry Potter has come to Hogwarts?"

Students begin to whisper. Elizabeth rolls her eyes. He doesn't need or want all this attention; he's just a boy.

"This is Crabbe and Goyle." the young Malfoy says, nodding his head towards two large boys behind him "I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron snickers when he says his name. Elizabeth elbows him in the arm, to which Ron gives her a confused look.

"Think my name is funny, do you? No need to ask yours. Red hair, hand-me-down robes? Must be a Weasley." Draco says snidely "You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others, Potter. I can help you with that."

Draco extends his hand for Harry to shake, but he refuses. Elizabeth snickers, and, unfortunately, the young Malfoy hears her. Oops...

"And you... You didn't tell me you had a sister."  
"I didn't think it was necessary." she shrugged  
"It wasn't. What _is_ necessary, is that you tell me you both are a bunch of filthy _mudbloods_."

Hermione and Ron gasped. Harry seemed confused to the term, him never being acquainted with wizard profanity. Elizabeth on the other hand, kept her smile; she didn't want Malfoy to gain the satisfaction of hurting her feelings. So instead of acting hurt like her sister, Liz merely shrugged it off.

"I don't care what you call me, Malfoy."  
"Well, as long as I can call your sister a _mudblood_ -"  
"Look, you can call me whatever the hell you like," Elizabeth began, her tone dangerously low "but if you so much as stand, look or breathe in my sister's direction... I will end you."

Draco and his two lackeys laughed loudly.

"Oh really?" he taunted "What are you going to do?"  
"What am I going to do?" Elizabeth smirked "I'm going to take your wand and shove it so far up your arse you'll be trying to shit it for months."

Hermione, Ron and Harry tried not to laugh as Malfoy's face turned beet red. Liz crossed her arms and smirked in victory before turning around and ignoring the blonde. The four kids were saved from an earful by Professor McGonagall who came back outside and told the students they were ready for the sorting ceremony. She lead the students through two large oak doors and into what Hermione said was the Great Hall. Hundreds of kids were seated at four long tables; a coloured flag hanging above each. To the far left was the Slytherin table, decorated with green and silver. Next to them were the yellow and black Hufflepuffs. To the immediate right, was the red and gold banner of Gryffindor and finally, Ravenclaw table with their blue and bronze. All the students were lead to the front of the hall and were in awe at the ceiling. Hundreds of candles floated above their heads and above them, a ceiling bewitched to look like the night sky. It was truly a beautiful sight. As she passed the tables, Elizabeth spotted Fred and George Weasley at the Gryffindor table. The twins smiled encouragingly at her as she kept walking to the front, alongside the other students. When she reached the front, Professor McGonagall rose and began speaking, but Elizabeth paid little attention; she was looking at all the teachers seated at the high table. Hagrid, the keeper of the keys, sat at the far right. Teachers she didn't recognize sat in between him and the Headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore. Beside him was the seat where the sharp featured Professor McGonagall sat and again, there were a few more teachers beside her. The spot at the far left was occupied by the potion master, Severus Snape. To his left, and Elizabeth's right, sat a professor who dared to don a purple turban on his head. Her gaze on him lasted to long; the professor turned to face her. Her eyebrows furrowed; something was odd about this man, and it wasn't the turban. Luckily, Hermione, who was standing nervously beside her, shook Liz out of her uneasy eye-contact with the professor. She looked in front of her and saw that Dumbledore, whose beard was almost as long as his purple robes, stood and began talking.

"I have a few start of term notices I wish to announce." he began in a soft tone "The first years please note that the dark forest is strictly forbidden to all students. Also, our caretaker, Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you that the third floor corridor on the right is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a most painful death. Thank you."

A most painful death? Sounds cheerful... Hogwarts sure is an interesting place and, so far, it seems very dangerous unless you follow the rules; which Elizabeth doesn't do very often.

"When I call your name, you will come forth." Minerva began "I shall place the sorting hat on your head, and you will be sorted into your houses. Abbot, Hannah."

A girl walks up to the stool sitting in front of the high table. The professor places the hat on her head and a few seconds later, it yells "Hufflepuff!" Several names later, Elizabeth tenses.

" _Granger, Elizabeth_."

Just before she walks up to the stool, Liz hears a familiar voice whisper the word _mudblood_. Draco Malfoy, of course. And she thought he seemed like a nice boy at Florean Fortescue's... Elizabeth got a reassuring smile from Ron, Harry and her sister as she went up and sat on the rickety stool.

"Hmmm... Elizabeth Granger." the hat said as it landed on her head "You're a difficult one..."  
"Am I, really?"  
"Indeed you are... You're a brilliant young witch. I could make this easy and put you in Ravenclaw-"  
" _No_. Anything but Ravenclaw." Liz insisted  
"I thought so..." the hat chuckled "You would then do well in either Slytherin or Gryffindor..."  
"Just pick one already." Elizabeth said loudly

Students chuckled.

"Well then... Definitely-"


	4. Definitely

"Granger, Elizabeth."

Just before she walks up to the stool, Liz hears a familiar voice whisper the word _mudblood_. Draco Malfoy, of course. And she thought he seemed like such a nice boy at _Florean Fortescue_ 's... Elizabeth rolled her eyes. She got a reassuring smile from Ron, Harry and her sister as she went up and sat on the rickety stool.

"Hmmm... Elizabeth Granger." the hat said as it landed on her head "You're a difficult one..."  
"Am I, really?"  
"Indeed you are... You're a brilliant young witch. I could make this easy and put you in Ravenclaw-"  
" _No_. Anything but Ravenclaw." Liz insisted  
"I thought so..." the hat chuckled "You would then do well in either Slytherin or Gryffindor..."  
"Just pick one already." Elizabeth said loudly

Students chuckled.

"Well then..."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She was both nervous and excited; for two reasons. One, being that she wanted to know what house she was going to spent the next seven years in and see if the people were decent. Second, she wants and doesn't want to be in Slytherin. She didn't want to be in the serpent's house because of that arrogant prat Malfoy and because people, even her sister, would label her as a mean and mistrusted person. Ellie was cunning, ambitious, proud and hot-headed just like many Slytherins, but she was also brave, kind, loyal and daring like many Gryffindors. But the only reason she wanted to go into the lion's house, is because Fred and George were there. Her first friends.

"Definitely... Slytherin!"

Elizabeth's eyes immediately shot open and smile drew itself across her face without her even knowing it. Almost every Slytherin rose from their seats and cheered. After all, not all Slytherins care about blood-purity; just Malfoy and his entourage. As far as Slytherins were concerned, once you've become a snake, you're one of theirs – one of the elite; because Salazar Slytherin looked for the seeds of greatness in young witches and wizards. Muggle-born or not, you got chosen by this house because you had the potential to be great, in the true sense of the word. Elizabeth stood up and glanced at the crowd; bot Ron and Hermione's mouths were open wide in shock. The same thing could be said for Draco Malfoy, who couldn't believe a _mudblood_ like herself had gotten into Slytherin, but he looked angry more than anything else. Harry didn't seem concerned, but he was. She had been nice to him and Ron back on the _Express_ , surely she couldn't be in Slytherin. Could she? Fred and George smiled and clapped for her. They were disappointed that she wasn't in their house, but they had gotten to know Ellie; enough to know that she wasn't one of those evil serpents. Liz walked over to her new table and was showered in cheers and encouraging slaps to the back. She sat between an older boy and a girl who was named before her; Millicent Bulstrode. They smiled at each other and then Elizabeth's attention was grabbed by McGonagall's voice.

"Granger, Hermione."

She saw her sister mumble something to herself as she walked up to the stool and sat down. Harry and Ron whispered something to each other, probably about Hermione being mental, and a few seconds later the hat shouted "Gryffindor!" Elizabeth sighed softly, proud that her sister didn't end up with Ravenclaw. It would loosen her up to be with the brave and the bold. A few more names are called in alphabetical order before a familiar name is called.

"Malfoy, Draco."

The blonde saunters up, a cocky smile plastered on his face. He sits on the stool and even before the hat touches his head, it twitches, as if it were afraid of Malfoy's head, and shouts "Slytherin!" The new member of Slytherin House smirks proudly and jumps off the stool, making his way to the table. He passes behind Elizabeth and forcefully squeezes himself between the older boy next to Liz and herself. She elbows him in the ribs, sending him an annoyed look, and he elbows her back. The two glare at each other for a while until a name makes everyone go silent and still.

"Potter, Harry."

Harry shyly walked up and professor McGonagall placed the sorting hat on his head. It began to speak, and because it was so quiet, if you strained your hearing, you could hear what the hat was saying. Elizabeth was too nervous to pay attention, and with Malfoy still annoying her by kicking her feet, she couldn't possibly concentrate on anything other than her panicked thoughts. She knew is that Harry couldn't be in Slytherin; it wasn't a good idea. The hat kept talking and even the young Potter boy said a sentence or two. After a few more agonizing seconds in silence, the sorting had made its decision.

"Better be- Gryffindor!"

An enormous amount of applause and cheering could be heard from the Gryffindor table; including Fred and George Weasley who were chanting "we got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry smiles and goes to sit near the two of them. Elizabeth gently claps for Harry, happy that he's in the right house, before she's pulled out of her thoughts by Malfoy who complains about "Saint Potter". More names are called and Slytherin has added ten more students to their table. Eventually, the newest addition to the collection of Weasleys at Hogwarts, Ronald, is called up and sorted into Gryffindor like the rest of his family. It was then that reality struck Elizabeth; she was alone in her own house. Fred, George, Harry, Ron and even her sister were all in Gryffindor. For now, the only person she knew was the young Malfoy and she didn't want to hang out with him. Well, not until he stopped being a twit. While everyone was talking, and before the blonde could speak to the mudblood next to him, Professor McGonagall gently taps a spoon on a cup to get everyone's attention.

"Your attention please."  
"Let the feast... Begin!" Dumbledore said rather dramatically

As soon as the words exited his mouth, dozens of different foods, drinks and puddings appeared on the table with a golden glow. Elizabeth's smile and eyes widened in surprise. Food was something she loved almost more than life itself. Almost immediately, the students filled their plates with roast chicken, potatoes, miniature mince pies and ham. They filled their glasses with pumpkin juice, which tastes better than it sounds, and began eating all while excitedly chatting with their new comrades. Liz's plate was filled to the point you'd think she was going to feed four people. She passed the cranberry sauce to a few people, and began talking with anyone who would talk to her. She spoke to a boy called Blaise Zabini, who was sitting in front of her, to Millicent and to a few other girls; namely Daphne Greengrass and Rachel Morton. Malfoy didn't even have time to place a word in their conversation. Elizabeth would look past him when speaking to Millicent and would ignore him when she looked in front of her at Blaise. She had no time or interest in dealing with him, right now. Suddenly, ghosts started coming from the walls, floors and one of them even came up from Daphne's plate. She shrieked as the Slytherin house ghost, the Bloody Baron, cackled crazily.

"Hey, Baron!" a boy named Gregory Goyle called "How'd you get covered in blood?"  
"Goyle, you don't ask about... that!" Elizabeth shouted  
"The lady is right!" the Baron yelled "Be prepared for a week's worth of hell young one!"

The Baron made a sound that resembled both loud yelling and cackling in Goyle's direction, who backed away scared, and left. Blaise, Daphne, Rachel, Millicent and even Malfoy laughed at him for a short while. But Goyle wasn't done yet; he absolutely wanted to know why the Bloody Baron was, well... bloody.

"Granger, you seem to be smart."  
"Well spotted." she smirked  
"Do you know why he's covered in blood?"  
"I'd rather not share." Elizabeth said, stuffing a piece of baked potato into her mouth  
"Oh come on, Granger!" Blaise cheered  
"Yeah, come on Liz!" the girls giggled  
"I don't think she even knows..." Malfoy said snidely

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turned to her friends.

"Okay fine. But if the Baron comes after me, I'm setting him on all of you!" she joked "So, sometime during the tenth or eleventh century, no one knows for sure, the Baron attended Hogwarts."

Everyone stopped eating and was listening intently to Elizabeth's story. She always had the talent to draw people in with her voice, whether it be by singing or just telling a story. To her surprise, even the young blonde sitting next to her had stopped eating and kicking her to listen to the story.

"After Hogwarts, he apparently fell in love with Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena Ravenclaw's daughter; but she didn't love him in return. He was sent by Rowena to find Helena in Albania, but when Helena refused to return with him..." she paused for dramatic effect "he killed her in such a powerful rage, that he didn't even realize what he had done until she died in his arms. Unable to live with what he had done, the Baron stabbed himself with the same knife and died. So the blood he's covered in, is the blood of his one true love."

"Woah..." the lot of them chorused  
"You should tell stories more often, Granger." Blaise said, stunned "You're pretty good."  
"Thanks. Maybe I will." Liz laughed  
"But is that true of a rumour?" Daphne asked  
"I read about it in one of my sister's books."

Blaise smiled at Elizabeth and she smiled back before shoving a large piece of roast chicken into her mouth and washing it down with pumpkin juice. The five new friends - Blaise, Daphne, Rachel, Millicent and Elizabeth - continued talking and eating all while ignoring Malfoy, who made snide comments here and there, more to himself than to others. Eventually, all the students finished eating and the Headmaster rose.

"I hope you all enjoyed, the start-of-term feast. Now, all house prefects will show the new students to their common rooms." Dumbledore said with a small smile "I bid you all a good night and a warm welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Students from all tables began to cheer and the prefects got up, asking for all the first years to follow them. Elizabeth stood and walked beside Daphne, who was avidly chatting about something she read in the daily prophet. She was partially ignoring her since she was trying to get a glimpse of her sister on the other side of the Gryffindor table. No luck; Hermione was following her prefect and not looking her way. Liz shrugged and sped up, following the Slytherin prefect. He led them down a few staircases and into the dungeons. The dark, damp halls were lit with a few torches. It was colder down there than the rest of the castle, but Elizabeth liked it that way. It was easier to fall asleep in the cold; she could wrap multiple layers of blankets around herself. Around the corner of the long corridor they passed the entrance to the potions classroom; Blaise and Liz enthused about making potions together. A few moments later, they had arrived in front of a bare, brick wall. Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed.

" _Serpensortia_." the Slytherin prefect spoke

Suddenly, the damp brick wall shook and a section lifted to create an opening. The Slytherin common room was behind said wall. It was a dungeon-like room with greenish lamps and chairs. A large part of the dungeon rested under the lake, giving the light in the room a green tinge. Large black and dark green button-tufted leather sofas and ottomans, silver skull and snake ornaments and dark wood cupboards could be found inside; it had quite a grand atmosphere. Elizabeth looked around in awe along with most of the other students, including the young Malfoy. He had long forgotten his quarrel with the Slytherin half of the Granger twins.

"You'll find that your belongings have already been place in your appointed dormitories. The password to the common room changes every fortnight, and is posted on the noticeboard." the prefect said "Breakfast begins at half-past seven every morning. Classes begin at nine o'clock. You will receive your timetables tomorrow morning, until then... enjoy yourselves and welcome to Slytherin House!"

The prefect left and everyone started muttering to each other in excited voices. Elizabeth and Blaise went over to the noticeboard to see how the dorms were organized. All houses valued traditionalism, even the 'edgy' Slytherins. All dorms were separated by gender; girls with girls and boys with boys. Although girls you come and go from the boys' dorms, the boys couldn't enter the girls' dorm; the staircase that lead to it would transform into a slide. I guess the Hogwarts founders didn't trust them. Liz stood on the tip of her toes to see who she'd be paired with. She smiled when she found out she was going to be in the same room as Daphne, Rachel and Millicent. The three girls cheered happily. Blaise, as he had told Elizabeth, was in the same room as Goyle, some guy called Crabbe and none other than Draco Malfoy. It was getting late, so the four girls sauntered off to bed. The dorms were huge. Stone floors and walls were covered in green, silver and black tapestries. Four-poster beds were placed evenly around the room, each one of them having their own cupboard and nightstand. A large window at the back-center of the room showed the view into the Black Lake, where fish, Grindylows and Merpeople were curiously swimming. Large cast iron chandeliers hung from the ceiling, lighting the room just enough to see and the ceiling was adorned with silk-like slivers of fabric to give the dormitory a luxurious feeling. Stone archways stood above them, shaping the window and cathedral ceiling. The Slytherin dormitories were certainly a beautiful sight.

To the far back-left of the dorm was bathroom. Elizabeth opened her trunk and took out her pyjamas, making her way into the bathroom. She quickly got changed and decided to leave all the unpacking for tomorrow; she was way too tired to think about that right now. The three other girls did the same and with the wave of a wand, the chandelier's light dimmed and they pulled the soft green and silver sheets on top of them. Liz closed her eyes and immediately falling asleep, dreaming about her future years at Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	5. Ella & Draco

Elizabeth was used to having the sun shine onto her face in the morning. But being under the Black Lake meant that the only thing that got brighter was the lake water; it only went a shade or two lighter. Although the lake didn't provide much light in the morning, the chandeliers did and they lit up automatically at seven thirty in the morning. Daphne, Rachel and Millicent woke up earlier than the chandeliers. At seven o'clock, the three girls were out of bed and getting their clothes on. A half hour later, they were all ready and decided it would be wise to wake Elizabeth up. How they were going to do this, they had no idea. Daphne pulled the curtains away to reveal Elizabeth fast asleep. She laid on her side, arms wrapped around her pillow and the sheets pulled up to her waist. Her lips rested in a gentle smile and her long hair was splayed around her head like a halo made of chocolate.

"Should we wake her?" Daphne asked  
"I don't know..." Rachel said  
"She looks so cute." Millicent continued  
"I appreciate the thought girls, but I am _not_ cute."

Elizabeth's eyes blinked open and a playful smile tugged at her lips. The three girls took this as an invitation to annoy her, so they giggled and jumped onto her bed causing Liz to flail her arms and laugh along with her three friends. She managed to unroll herself from the sheets and grab a pillow so she could fling it at one of the jumping, giggling girls. The pillow hit Rachel in the face but she threw it back with equal force.

"All right, all right!" Elizabeth whined "I'm getting up!"  
"Finally!" the three other girls chorused

Ellie rolled her eyes and lazily got out of bed. She went over to her trunk to get clothes but remembered she had to put on a uniform. She turned around about to ask the girls about it when something was flung at her face. The brunette removed the said something from her face and realized that one of her friends had thrown her a uniform. She thanked no one in particular and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower and dry her hair with her wand. She mentally thanked her book of spells for that and tried on her uniform. It was a little big at first, but it automatically shrunk to fit her size. Elizabeth left the bathroom and put on her shoes before she and the girls walked out of their dorm, on their way to breakfast. When they got to the Great Hall, Blaise waved at them; he had saved four spots. Elizabeth sat next to him while Daphne, Rachel and Millicent sat in front of them. Liz grabbed two waffles, blueberries and poured a lot of maple syrup on top before eating.

"I hope we're in the same classes!" Millicent said, sipping on pumpkin juice  
"Me too!" Rachel continued "It would suck if we got separated."  
"Definitely." Liz confirmed, dropping two cubes of sugar in her tea "Hey, when do you think we'll get our timetables?"  
"Right now..." a low voice said behind her

Blaise and Elizabeth turned around and were met with black. There stood their head of house, professor Severus Snape. He silently held out a sheet of parchment for each of us and moved on to the other students to hand them a sheet of parchment as well. Blaise and Elizabeth immediately looked at their timetables. Elizabeth had Herbology first, then History of Magic in the afternoon. On Tuesdays her morning was occupied by Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Herbology for the first morning class and Astronomy at midnight were to happen every Wednesday, and Thursday was rather busy with Charms and Transfiguration in the morning and flying lessons in the afternoon. Friday was a simple morning of Potions with the head of house; Elizabeth looked forward to it. Unfortunately, she only had the same classes as Blaise and Daphne; Rachel and Millicent weren't going to be with her. After a few short words of disappointment, the five of them headed back to the common room to fetch their bags and books for their classes. Blaise, Daphne, Rachel and Millicent lounged in the common room, but Elizabeth wanted to go see her sister before class. So she told her friends she'd meet them at the greenhouses and exited the common room, back to the Great Hall. It was about eight thirty when she had arrived, and there were still many people leisurely eating breakfast, including her sister, Harry, Ron and the Weasley twins. When the doors swung open, the twins immediately turned towards the sound.

"AND NOW, LET'S WELCOME ELLIE!" they chorused, rising form their seats and clapping  
"Thank you, thank you." she giggled, gracing them with a mock bow  
"Come over here!" Fred told her

Elizabeth complied and walked over to the table where they were all seated. Fred and George separated and let Ellie sit between them. The twins flung their arms around her shoulders and looked at her.

"So how's Slytherin?" they said in unison  
"Not as bad as you'd think. Most of them didn't even care I was muggle-born; just Malfoy, his two knob bodyguards and his crazy fangirl Pansy Parkinson. I had to threaten to hex her if I wanted to get out of the common room this morning." Elizabeth chuckled "But on the bright side, I made some new friends."  
"Good." Fred said "No one's going to be a twat with _my_ Slytherin Princess!"  
"Don't you mean _our_ Slytherin Princess, Fred?" George questioned  
"Why of course, dear brother!" Fred said in a mock accent "Where are my manners?"  
"Down the drain." Elizabeth chuckled  
"Hey!" the twins whined  
"Just saying..." she sighed, rolling her eyes "Anyway, how are you my darling sister?"  
"Good." Hermione replied simply  
"Just good? That's it?"  
"Yes, that's it." she said sharply before standing up and walking away  
"What's got her knickers in a twist?" Elizabeth asked aloud "Boys... Any ideas?"

Ron and Harry, who had been snickering at the twins' attitude towards Ellie, immediately stopped and shook their heads. She tilted her head sideways and raised a questioning eyebrow. She didn't believe them. Elizabeth then got an idea; since she was in Slytherin, and no outsider had been inside the common room in over seven centuries, they'd have no idea what was inside whether it was actually there or not.

"You know, if you're not going to tell me I could just go get one of the common room's many spell books. Surely there's a spell in there that could make you boys talk..."

Ron and Harry looked at each other, obviously nervous about the empty threat.

"Okay, well, no offense to your sister or anything-"  
"No, Harry, will all possible offense to her sister." Ron corrected him  
"Whatever... She's just too... uh-"  
"Nosy, bossy, annoying, know-it-all?" Liz finished for them  
"Well, yeah." Ron said sheepishly  
"I know. But stow it and deal with it." she snapped "She'll loosen up eventually, but until then be nice to her. Because if you're not I swear that dusty spell book won't be so dusty anymore."  
"Go, Ellie! Go, Ellie!" the twins cheered  
" _Dangerous_ -" Fred said dramatically  
" _Mysterious_ -" George continued  
" _The Slytherin Princess_!" they chorused  
"Oh shut it, you two." Liz joked "If you don't mind, I've got to walk to the greenhouses, so I'll be going now. See you later!"  
"See you, Ellie!"

Elizabeth got up and walked out of the Great Hall. She swung her bag over her shoulder, her books and dragon hide gloves inside, and walked down the bustling corridors of Hogwarts castle. The halls were a very crowded place. If you went in there you wouldn't be able to breathe, or make your way out and around unless you were able to shove a few people. It was also quite loud, so talking to someone wasn't an easy task. As Elizabeth walked through the halls, a few people, notably Slytherins, smiled at her. Others avoided her glance or scowled at her, notably Gryffindors. She was about to push the doors that lead outside when someone shoved her from the side, passing her and pushing said doors open. She huffed in annoyance as she followed the familiar head of bleached hair.

"Malfoy, what is your problem?"  
"You, of course." he said snidely  
"Why? Because I'm a _mudblood_?" Liz asked  
"Well, yeah."  
"You're such an idiot."

Elizabeth shook her head in annoyance and pushed past him, heading for the greenhouses. Malfoy sped up, leaving his lackeys behind to catch up with her.

"Why am _I_ an idiot? I'm not the _mudblood_."  
"No, you're not." she sighed "You're an idiot because you can't accept that a muggle is better at magic than you."  
"You are _not_ better than me!" the blonde growled  
"We'll see." Elizabeth smiled innocently

Liz walked past him once more and arrived at the greenhouses. It was two minutes until nine o'clock so she was only a little early, but still most of the class was already there. Students were seated by three at each table and the professor's station was in the front, covered in dirt and a plant that Elizabeth assumed they were going to learn about. Blaise and Daphne were already seated and waved her over.

"I thought you'd never make it!" Blaise said  
"Sorry, the Malfoy prat got in the way." Ellie complained  
"I can hear you, you know." a voice said from behind  
"I know, Malfoy."

The young wizard huffed and sat behind the three friends along with Crabbe and Goyle. A few minutes later, the bell chimed to signal the beginning of class. Then, a short and plump woman with greying hair came into the greenhouse from the side entrance. She placed a few things onto the professor's station and turned to the group of students; Ravenclaws and Slytherins.

"Good morning everyone, I hope you all had a good night's rest. My name is Pomona Sprout and I will be your Herbology teacher for your entire journey at Hogwarts." the woman began "Today we will be learning about the basics of Herbology and I will be introducing you to a plant we'll be studying for a good part of the year."

Elizabeth immediately knew she was going to like this class. Since she was already fond of potions, she needed to pay attention here so she could find out about certain potion ingredients and how to grow them if necessary. Professor Sprout went on about the importance of a sturdy spade, dragon hide gloves for potting and handling either toxic or bitey plants, and the perfect fertilizer; dragon dung. Elizabeth took many notes, whereas Blaise and Daphne were almost falling asleep. She wouldn't admit it, but she was just as studious as Hermione when she wanted to be. Eventually, the more exciting part of the class began.

"Now, as you may have seen I have a very special plant I'd like to introduce you to." Sprout said "This is Devil's Snare. Now, who can tell me what it is?"

A few Ravenclaw's hands shot up immediately, them being insufferable know-it-alls, and so did Elizabeth's; she had studied all her school books prior to the school year so she was well educated in these sorts of things.

"Yes, Slytherin girl, over there." she said pointing to Ellie  
"Elizabeth Granger, m'mam." she corrected "Devil's Snare is an uncommon plant with the magical ability to constrict or strangle anything that happens to touch it. Struggling or resistance to Devil's Snare will cause the plant to exert a greater force of constriction."  
"Very good. And what are its weaknesses, may I ask?"  
"Since Devil's Snare prefers a dark, damp environment, it will stop its movement in front of bright light and will recoil away from the heat of fire." Elizabeth said "So a well-placed flame spell such as _bluebell flames_ will drive it away from its victims."  
"Excellent! Ten points for Slytherin!" Professor Sprout said "Although a smart girl like you could easily be in Ravenclaw."  
"Nice one, Granger." Blaise whispered beside her  
"Thanks."

For the rest of the class, Pomona Sprout went on about how to grow it, store it and keep it alive without it wanting to strangle you. Eventually, the class was dismissed and the three friends had a free period. They went back to their common room to put their books away and decided to hang out on a sofa in front of the fireplace. Elizabeth had other ideas. It had been a while since she had played her guitar, so she fetched it from her room. At the moment, it was the size of a teacup. She had used a shrinking charm to make it fit in her trunk. No one at Hogwarts, except her sister, knew she could play it; she intended to keep it that way for now. Liz didn't want attention, she just wanted to be able to play in silence. And for some reason, she was afraid that people would make fun of her for it. So instead of playing in the common room, she slipped her guitar into her robes' pocket and made an excuse to go see her sister. She made her way upstairs and went outside. It was a relatively warm day, so Elizabeth could enjoy playing outside. On her way to the greenhouse this morning, she had noticed a lonely beech tree in front of the Black Lake and decided that's where she was going to play her guitar. She sat at the base of the tree, facing the dark lake, and took out her guitar. She placed it in front of her then pointed her wand before muttering _Megapragma_ *, making her guitar enlarge. She picked it up and began plucking aimlessly at the strings, eventually playing an acoustic version of _Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode_. Suddenly, a voice brought her out of her musical daze.

"Didn't know you could play."  
"Why is it that everywhere I go, _you're_ there?" Elizabeth sighed "You're like Flobberworm Mucus; sticky and thick."  
"Well, thank you for the compliment." Malfoy joked  
"Don't mention it." she replied before going back to her guitar  
"How long have you been playing?"  
"Not to be rude- well, actually, to be rude; what the hell do you want?"

The young Malfoy sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He sat down next to Elizabeth and picked up a stone before throwing into the lake. A Grindylow threw it back.

"Look, I know I may have come off as-"  
"Evil, arrogant, idiotic, selfish-"  
"Yes, all those things." Malfoy sighed "I just..."  
"You just what?" Elizabeth insisted  
"Wanted to say sorry." he mumbled almost inaudibly  
"Excuse me? _The_ Draco Malfoy wants to apologize to the _mudblood_? Somebody, please, take a picture!"  
"Oh, shut it." he chuckled "I just figured it would be better if I was on your good side."  
"Yes, that would be preferable." Liz admitted  
"So, are we good?" Malfoy asked  
"Not by a long shot. It'll take more than an apology to win me over, kid."  
"Figured." he smiled, despite himself  
"But it's a good start. _Reducio_." she said and her guitar shrunk again

Elizabeth stood up and brushed herself off, placing her shrunken guitar in her left pocket and her wand in the right. She began to walk away, but turned to say a few more words to the blonde. Maybe if she was a little nicer to him, he'd do the same for her.

"Maybe I'll talk to you later."  
"Yeah... Thanks, Ella." he smiled weakly  
"I never thought I'd hear you say that again." she chuckled "See ya later, Draco."

And with that she left with a small wave of her hand, leaving Draco with a rare genuine smile on his lips.

* * *

 ***The incantation to the enlargement charm is unknown, so I invented it. Megapragma comes from the Greek "megálo prágma " meaning "big thing".**


	6. Potions

It was now Friday; the day Elizabeth was most excited about. For the entirety of the morning she would be sitting in front of steaming cauldrons in Snape's potions classroom down in the dungeons. Liz had surprisingly gotten up earlier than the rest of the girls. She took a quick shower, got dressed and went to the common room, since it wasn't seven thirty yet. She had picked up a random book from the common room and looked at the title. The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Elizabeth had heard of this book, and seeing as their was already a page marked by a black satin ribbon, she decided to start reading there. Hermione would have her head if she saw this. It was The Tale of the Three Brothers. It's a story about three brothers who cheat Death. In return for their success, each of them gets an item from death. The first receives the Elder Wand, the second demands a Stone of Resurrection and lastly, the most humble brother asks for something to hide from Death. Over the course of time, Death took the first two brothers, them being greedy. The third brother lived a long happy life with the help of the item he requested; the cloak of invisibility. When he reached a ripe age, he took it off and greeted death as an old friend. Elizabeth had read many muggle stories, but this was her first wizard story. Suddenly, a clearing throat pulled her away from her reading. She looked up to see Blaise standing there.

"What are _you_ doing up this early?"  
"Good morning to you too, Blaise." Liz chuckled "And I was reading, had you not noticed the book in my hands."  
"What are you reading?" her friend said sitting down next to her  
" _The Tales of Beedle the Bard_."  
"First wizard story?"  
"Yep!" Elizabeth said jumping up "But enough of that. It's seven thirty; time for food."  
"You read my mind."

The both of them made their way to the Great Hall, which was basically empty. The only people that were there were the prefects, a few professors and a couple of early risers. Blaise and Elizabeth sat together and ate breakfast. When Liz took her first sip of tea, the rest of her friends showed up. The girls - mostly Daphne - complained about her scaring them half to death because she was nowhere to be found. Elizabeth shrugged it off saying she was just excited about Potions class this morning; which she was. She had been all week. After a few more bites of food and laughs, Elizabeth spotted her sister walking into the Great Hall alone.

"Hey, guys?" Liz began "I'll be right back..."  
"But you haven't even finished breakfast!" Rachel commented  
"I'll eat something later."

And with that, she got up and walked the length of the table, passed Malfoy as he entered the Great Hall and went over to the Gryffindor table. Hermione had sat down in the center of the table where the least people were, probably to avoid confrontation. Elizabeth ignored the disgusted stares of the few Gryffindor that were there and sat perpendicular to the bench, facing her sister. At first, Hermione ignored her. She put a few pieces of toast on her plate, put her usual blueberry jam on top and took a sip of pumpkin juice before looking at her younger twin.

"What?" she said coldly  
"Hermione, just tell me what's wrong." Liz insisted  
"It's nothing..." her twin lies unconvincingly  
"Mione, have I ever told you how bad of a liar you are?"  
"Many times." she chuckles sadly  
"Can you please tell me what's wrong?" Liz says calmly "I can't help you if you don't tell me, kiddo."  
"It's me; I'm what's wrong..."  
"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth asks  
"Everyone hates me!" Hermione sniffles  
"Oh sweetheart, no one hates you!" Ellie assures her sister "They're just intimidated because you're just so damn smart."  
"You're just as smart as I am and look how many friends you have!"  
"It's because I don't like letting everyone know how smart I am; I keep it a secret just like my guitar playing." Liz whispered the last part causing her sister to giggle "Maybe if you toned down on showing off the smarty-pants, people will love you. Anyway, if people don't like your smarty-pants attitude, they're not worth it."  
"Thank, Lizzie." Hermione said giving her sister a hug  
"Your welcome, Mione." she chuckled "Now let go of me, you know how I feel about hugs."

At those words, Hermione hugged harder to further annoy her sister. Elizabeth tried to wriggle out of her grasp but couldn't because another force had squished her. Fred and George had come up from behind and trapped the Granger sisters in a bone crushing hug.

"HEY TWINSIES!"  
"WEASLEYS LET GO OF ME!"

Surprisingly, the twins obeyed and chuckled at the sight of a pair of disheveled sisters. Elizabeth grumbled and stood, thinking of getting away from these two, but to not avail. Fred had grabbed her arm, spun her around and picked her up, only to put her back where she just sat. Ellie rolled her eyes playfully, a smile on her lips. Fred and George passed under the table and sat across from the two girls. In between the two heads of red hair, Elizabeth spotted her friends waving her over. She sighed, shrugged and gave them a sheepish smile before catching a chocolate frog in her mouth and throwing her arms up in success. The four of them ate their breakfast and then bid each other goodbye before heading to their morning classes. Fred and George decided to skip them and prank Peeves the poltergeist though. As it turned out, Hermione and Elizabeth were both going in Potions. Liz went to get her things from her common room and met her sister at the bottom of the staircase. The two of them then sauntered off to class, a smile etching onto their features. But as soon as they entered the classroom, their smiles fell. Hermione was now in the class she dreaded most and the only spot left for Elizabeth to sit in on the Slytherin side of the classroom was next to Malfoy. The older twin wished her sister luck and went to sit next to Harry in the front of the class. Ellie begrudgingly went up to the front and sat next to the blonde. He turned, presumably speak to her, but she also turned around, trying to spot her friends. They were at the back of the class and completely ignoring her. The brunette sighed and faced the front again.

"What-"  
"Do not talk to me I am not in the mood." Liz cut Malfoy off  
"Is this about your friends ignoring you?" he asked  
"What if it is?"  
"Then, I would tell you they were talking about you at breakfast." the blonde replied, leaning back into his chair  
"What could they _possibly_ have been saying?" Elizabeth replied bitterly  
"Something about being a traitor... To be honest I wasn't really listening."  
"What do you mean, a _traitor_? My sister was on the verge of tears, I _had_ to comfort her!" Liz huffed crossing her arms "Anyway, why should _I_ believe _you_? For all I know you could be lying to me."  
"You know as much as I do that a Slytherin doesn't lie; we take responsibility for our actions and do not lie for the benefit of others."  
"Why do you have to be right?" Ellie sighed, propping her elbows on the desk  
"Because I'm a Malfoy; it's in my blood." the boy said proudly as Elizabeth rolled her eyes  
"Right." she said unconvinced "Did they say anything else?"  
"I can't swear to it- but I think Blaise said something along the lines of ' _Why is she hanging out with that Weasley scum_?' "  
"Wonderful." Liz grumbled "Maybe I am just like my sister..."  
"What?" Malfoy asked  
"An annoying _mudblood_..."

The blonde was about to speak when a large booming sound came from the back of the dark classroom. Students immediately hushed and faced the front of the class. Friends stopped giggling, enemies put their arguments aside and the shy ones kept their usual quiet. As steps came closer and closer to the front, a quiet yet powerful voice resonated through the room.

"There will be no foolish wand waving or silly incantations in this class." Professor Snape said, reaching the front of the classroom "As such, I don't expect many of you to enjoy the subtle science and exact art that is potion making. However, for those select few," Snape looked over at Malfoy and Elizabeth, who both smiled "who possess the predisposition, I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory and even put a stopper in death."

Elizabeth's eyebrows raised in surprise and fascination. Little did she know, her desk partner's expression was the exact same. The professor's eyes then wandered to the first desk next to Elizabeth's; the one where Harry and Hermione were sitting at.

"Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confidant enough to not... pay... attention." he says slowly, stopping in front of Harry

Harry was writing down what his professor had said, but Snape, obviously having something against the boy, decided to ignore that. Hermione then nudged him in the ribs and he looked up confused. His expression changed when he saw the tall, dark professor hovering over him.

"Mr. Potter. Our... new... celebrity." he says slowly "Tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Hermione's hand skyrockets. Had she forgotten what Elizabeth had told her at breakfast? Harry shrugged, not able to provide Snape with an answer.

"You don't know? Well, let's try again." he continued "Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione's hand shoots up again. Elizabeth sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.

"I don't know, Sir." comes Harry's reply  
"And what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"

Hermione's hand raised again, but this time Elizabeth turns slightly towards her. The older twin catches a glimpse of her and acknowledges Liz, who begins mouthing the words: ' _put your hand down_ ', to her sister.

"I don't know, Sir." the raven haired boy responds  
"Pity." Snape drawls "Clearly, fame isn't everything, is it, Mr Potter... and Ms Granger?"

Elizabeth immediately broke eye contact with her sister and sat properly in her seat. Looking up at the professor who was now in front of her and Malfoy's desk, she nervously began playing with the bracelet Hermione had gotten her in Diagon Alley.

"Ms Granger, why was your mouth twitching towards the Gryffindors?" her head of house asked coldly as a few of said Gryffindors dared to laugh  
"I was merely telling my sister to lower her hand since you were clearly not going to ask her to answer your questions... _Sir_." Ellie said rapidly  
"Since you seem so keen on talking... tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"  
"A very powerful sleeping potion known as the _Draught of Living Death_ , Sir."  
"Where would I find a bezoar and what is its purpose?" Snape continued  
"A bezoar is found in the stomach of a goat and is an antidote for most poisons, Sir." Elizabeth answered  
"And what is the difference between Monkshood and Wolfsbane?"  
"There is none; it's the same plant. It's also known as Aconite, Sir."  
"Five points for each question; a total of fifteen points for Slytherin." Snape said curtly "Well done, Ms Granger."

Malfoy nudged Ellie's shoulder with his and sent her an approving look. She rolled her eyes playfully at him and returned her gaze to the front. Professor Snape took out his wand and was about to wave it, but paused as if he were waiting for something. He rapidly turned around and stared expectantly at the whole classroom.

"Well, why aren't you writing that down?!"

Immediately, the sound of crumpling parchment and scratching quills could be heard from all around the classroom. Students were rushing to write down what Elizabeth had just said. The rest of the class consisted of potion brewing. Professor Snape had waved his wand and immediately, instructions appeared on the board in perfect cursive. Since we were seated by two, Snape told us we were to brew the potion with our station partner. Elizabeth didn't really mind, after all Malfoy often boasted about his potion making skills so she wasn't worried about mucking it up. What she was worried about was whether he would trust her.

"I expect the cure for boils to be at least acceptable by the end of the second class." Snape said, sitting at his desk

Elizabeth didn't even need to look at the book to know what ingredients she needed or the time it needed to brew; she knew it perfectly. Liz repeated the steps in her head; crush six snake fangs into a fine powder, add four measures of that to the cauldron, heat on high for ten seconds, wave wand and leave to brew for forty-five minutes. Add four horned slugs to the cauldron, add two porcupine quills, stir three times clockwise, hold - something she realized made the potion more potent- stir twice clockwise and wave wand to complete the potion. As she reminded herself of the steps in her head, she grabbed all her necessary ingredients and laid them out. Malfoy gave her a funny look.

"What on earth are you doing, woman?"  
"Taking out everything we need, obviously." she replied distracted "And don't call me woman. It makes me sound old."  
"You didn't even open your book or look at the board." Malfoy pointed out  
"I know." Liz said "I've made this numerous times before - I know what I'm doing."  
"So what? You've practiced so much you've made it better than in the book?"  
"Of course."  
"Oh please-"  
"Shut up and crush six snake fangs, Malfoy."  
"Shut up and crush six snake fangs, Malfoy." the blonde mimicked in a girly voice  
"I _do not_ sound like that." Liz argued  
"Yes you do."  
"Yes you do." Elizabeth mimicked in an annoying voice  
"Don't copy me, _mudblood_." Malfoy growled  
"Don't copy me, _mudblood_."  
"Would you-"  
"Don't over-crush the fangs!" Ellie gasped, taking the mortar and pestle away from the blonde  
"I did no such thing." he defended  
"You're safe..." Elizabeth judged, examining the powder  
"Told you."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and began muttering to herself, performing the next few steps to brewing the cure for boils. It was an easy enough potion, but Elizabeth focused hard; she wanted to prove herself to both her partner and professor.

"Okay, so four measures into the cauldron... that's one, two, three and four... Heat on high for ten seconds... eight, nine, ten and wave wand."  
"You're muttering." Malfoy chuckled  
"I don't mutter." Liz disagreed, suddenly self-conscious and her cheeks turning a light rose colour  
"Ok, fine." Draco conceded "If you say so."  
"Oh, I do say so." Ellie smirked  
"Now what?"  
"Now you try not to get on my nerves while we wait for this potion to brew."  
"Very funny." Malfoy said, slightly irked  
"I know."

While they waited, the young blonde turned around to talk to Crabbe and Goyle, whose potion was turning a rather bright shade of pink rather than turning a mossy green. On the Gryffindor side of the classroom, two boys managed to make their potion bubble over before it exploded into their faces. Professor Snape said a simple _Evanesco_ , and the cauldron was clear for them to try again. Elizabeth let out a small laugh and looked over at her sister who was finishing up her potion's preparation. Eventually, forty-five minutes passed and it was time for Draco and Elizabeth to finish up their potion.

"So how are you going to improve this potion?" Malfoy asked, evidently doubting her abilities  
"You'll see." she smiled "Now add four horned slugs... one at a time."  
"I know!" Draco said exasperated "Next, I add two porcupine quills... one at a time!"  
"Yes... now I make the potion better." Liz declared "Stir clockwise once, twice, three times and hold..."  
"Why are you holding!?" the boy exclaimed  
"Continue... four and five." Elizabeth muttered, ignoring her partner "Malfoy wave your wand... and done!"

Elizabeth took a ladle and poured the moss green potion into one of her crystal phials. She capped it and raised her hand for her professor to check if it was correct; which she knew it was. Snape stepped towards their table and took the phial, examining it with a critical eye.

"Ten points to Slytherin for the first... _perfect_... potion of the year."

He curled his fingers around the phial and brought it to his desk. Malfoy looked over at Elizabeth who was writing down the adjustments to the potion in her book. He smiled and shook his head in astonishment, before picking up his quill and doing the same as his partner was doing. He would never admit it to anyone, hell it was hard enough for him to admit it to himself, but Elizabeth Rose Granger, _the mudblood_ , had just amazed him...


	7. A Broken Ankle is Good Luck

The following week was when things began to get interesting. Last Friday, Blaise, Daphne and Rachel had made it clear that they had indeed voiced their pessimistic opinion about the Weasley twins. Elizabeth _did_ barely know them, having met Fred and George on the Hogwarts Express the previous week, but she immediately felt nothing but loyalty toward them. Therefore, Lizzie said she didn't want to have anything to do with them, making Blaise mutter the word she never wanted to hear. Daphne and Rachel hadn't even voiced a complaint towards his new attitude. Millicent however, being a half-blood, didn't appreciate the comment and stuck with Elizabeth. But even with Millicent's comforting words, Elizabeth hung out with the Weasley twins and her sister more often. She even got to know Harry and Ron better. Malfoy on the other hand... still wasn't showing much improvement.

It was now the following Thursday morning. Ellie woke up at the same time as the chandeliers. She put on her uniform and made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast. The brunette sat between the twins like she had been doing since Monday and ate her usual waffles. After her last sip of tea, Elizabeth went to her dorm and got her books for her first class: Charms. She grabbed her wand hastily and ran out of her dorm, bumping into a few - well a lot - people in the process. She met Harry and Ron outside of the Charms classroom and they gave her confused looks when they saw her. Ellie's hair was slightly out of place, her tie was crooked and her book bag was slumped over one of her shoulders causing her grey jumper to slide off her shoulder.

"Bloody hell!" Ron called at the sight of his friend  
"Ron..." Harry warned  
"Oh no, he's right on this one." Ellie sighed adjusting her appearance "The Slytherin common room is like a war zone when you're a muggle-born who hangs out with Gryffindors."  
"Sorry..." Ron shrugged sheepishly  
"Don't be sorry, Ronald. If I didn't want to hang out with you, I wouldn't." the brunette reassured him "It's my own doing."

The two boys nodded in acknowledgement and the doors to the classroom opened. The Charms class had a different layout than the others. The center was cleared out and lead to a desk with numerous books stacked around it. On each side, the dark wooden desks were placed in a manner that resembled the stands on the Quidditch pitch. The left side of the classroom was reserved for the Slytherins and that's were Elizabeth went. She sat in the second row, leaving the end bench open for anyone to sit in. The young witch waited patiently for the class to begin, but her patience slowly turned to irritation when Draco Malfoy took the seat she had left empty. Liz gave him a sideways glance but turned to the front, facing Ron, Harry and her twin. Elizabeth gave Hermione an exasperated look as Malfoy tried to get her attention.

"Granger... Granger... Granger... Gra-"  
" _What_!?" Elizabeth sighed loudly  
"Nothing." Malfoy shrugged, a playful smirk tugging at his lips  
"Teacher, please get here soon." Liz pleaded quietly  
"Oh come on, you don't want to talk to me?"  
"Not at the moment, no."

Elizabeth turned back to face her sister. She sent her a pleading look and mouthed ' _help me_ ' in her's and the boys' direction. The three of them simultaneously sent her a sheepish smile. Liz rolled her eyes and, finally, the teacher arrived. Professor Filius Flitwick was a short man who sported a mane of white hair and a tangled beard of the same hue. His features seemed sharper and more pointed than those of a human, so Elizabeth had deduced he was at least part-Goblin. He made his way to the front of the class where he stood on a rather large pile of books to make himself taller and able to see the entirety of the student body.

"Good morning, class." he said in a squeaky voice  
"Good morning, Professor." the class chorused  
"Well, let's begin, shall we?"  
"No thank you." Malfoy mumbled

Elizabeth elbowed him gently, causing Malfoy to let out a gentle ' _ouch_ ', and focused her attention on professor Flitwick. The blonde boy gazed sideways at her and his face contorted into an angry sneer.

"One of a wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation; the ability to make objects fly. Today we shall put all your practice to good use." Flitwick began "Do you all have your feathers?"

A few students raise theirs feathers to confirm.

"Good. Now, remember the nice wrist movement we've been practicing; the _swish-and-flick_." the professor continued "Everyone?"

All the students picked up their wands and performed the movement at the same time the part-Goblin did. Then everyone refocused their attention on the teacher who continued speaking.

"The _swish-and-flick_ , everyone. Good. Now, enunciate: _Wingardium Leviosa_. Off you go then."

Immediately, the incantation could be heard from all over the classroom. Correct and incorrect pronunciation of the words reached Elizabeth's ears as she watched Ron in amusement. He had obviously said the incantation wrong since he was bashing his wand on the table in an effort to make the spell work. Hermione then probably corrected him seeing the look on the redhead's face. A few seconds later, Ellie's twin had her feather in the air and Ron's mouth agape. The professor congratulated her and turned to the Slytherins to see if they could match the spell quality. Malfoy obviously tried, but he only managed to make his feather twitch. Elizabeth scoffed and pointed her wand toward the white feather.

"Don't tell me; you can do better than me." Malfoy said snidely  
"Watch and learn, Kid." Ellie smiled smugly " _Wingardium Leviosa_."

Elizabeth's feather then rose steadily. Malfoy rolled his eyes and rested his chin on his hand as the brunette smirked at him in victory. Professor Flitwick awarded ten points to each half of the pair of sisters and walked around the classroom to supervise each and everyone of the cast charms. At the end of class, Seamus Finnigan managed to blow up his feather, and half the class, including Draco Malfoy, had managed to levitate their feathers at least a few inches above their desks. Class was dismissed and Harry, Ron, Elizabeth and Hermione went their separate ways to fetch their books for their next class. Around midday, most students were in the Great Hall doing homework. Harry and Ron were doing their last minute potions homework - for which they had asked for Liz's assistance -, Hermione was revising her Transfiguration spells, Elizabeth was looking in a second year's potion book which she had borrowed from the common room, and Seamus was, well, being Seamus.

" _Eye of rabbit, harp string hum. Turn this water into rum._ " he said and looked into the goblet he was pointing with his wand " _Eye of rabbit, harp string hum. Turn this water into rum_!"  
"What is Seamus trying to do to that glass of water?" Harry asked  
"Are you listening to him?" Elizabeth sighed "He's trying to turn his water into rum."  
"He actually made it turn into a weak tea before-"

Suddenly, the goblet exploded and Seamus' face was blackened and smoking. The Irish wizard just sat there, stunned. Elizabeth tried to suppress a laugh but failed miserably. Soon enough, Ron and Harry followed suit. The older twin just rolled her eyes. Just then, the Hall filled with the sound of screeching owls. Liz looked above her and saw that hundreds of owls had flocked on the rafters and were dropping things onto the house tables.

"Mail's here!" Ron shouted

Most of the first years had gotten letters from theirs parents or older siblings wishing them luck during the school year. Ron had gotten a copy of The Daily Prophet and Neville received a small sphere-shaped parcel. Harry saw the newspaper and asked to borrow it. As he began reading, Neville unwrapped his gift. It was a clear ball with a gold decal over it.

"Hey, look!" Seamus' Irish accent shouted "Neville's got a Remembrall!"  
"Oh, I've read about those." Hermione said, suddenly interested in the conversation "When the smoke turns red, it means you've forgotten something."  
"The only problem is, I can't remember what I've forgotten." Neville says sheepishly  
"Hey, Ron, Liz," Harry suddenly piped up "somebody broke into Gringotts. Listen, _believed to be the work of dark witches or wizards unknown, Gringotts Goblins, while acknowledging the breach, insist that nothing was taken. The vault in question, number 713, had in fact been emptied earlier that same day_."  
"That's odd." Elizabeth commented, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion  
"It is, because that's the vault Hagrid and I went to..." the raven haired boy added  
"Do you know what Hagrid got out of there?" Liz asked  
"No." Harry sighed "But it was small enough to fit in his pocket."

Ron, Harry and Elizabeth pondered on the question of what Hagrid could have taken out of vault 713 that day. None of them had a clear idea on what it could be, so they left the subject alone and continued their homework. Soon after, their flying lessons came along and Elizabeth was pleased to learn that she'd be doing them with the Gryffindors. Not something any Slytherin would say, now is it? Harry, Ron and Elizabeth made their way to the edge of the Quidditch pitch, next to the Northern Tower of Hogwarts. All the students were lined up, a broom laying on the ground beside them. Their instructor, Madam Hooch, came down the line and inspected them with her yellow hawk-like eyes.

"Good afternoon, class." she shouted so the students could hear  
"Good afternoon, Madam Hooch." the class hummed  
"Welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, what are you waiting for?" she said rapidly "Everyone step up to the left side of their broomstick. Come on now, hurry up. Stick your right hand over the broom and say, Up!"

The class did as she said and everyone began shouting Up! in all sorts of different tones of voices. Harry and Elizabeth both said it simultaneously, and their brooms flew up into their hands. The two shared a look.

"Wicked." Harry and Elizabeth said at the same time

Malfoy, who again was beside Elizabeth, rolled his eyes and did the same, his broom came right up into his hand. Hermione was having trouble. She kept repeating _Up_! but the broom never budged. Ron on the other hand, got his nose smacked by his broom. Both Harry and Liz laughed, which caused Ron to glare at them.

"Now, once you've got hold of your broom, I want you to mount it." Madam Hooch continued "And grip it tight, you don't want to be sliding off the end. Now, when I blow my whistle, I want each of you to kick off from the ground, hard. Keep your broom steady, hover for a moment, and then lean forward slightly and touch back down. On my whistle... 3... 2..."

The whistle sounded and Elizabeth began to hover, but one of her classmates had other ideas. Neville began to float higher and higher, and no matter how much Madam Hooch told him to come down, he didn't. Suddenly, the boy took off towards the castle, a genuinely terrified look on his face. All while he was screaming, Neville came swooping past the group of students who ducked just in time to avoid collision. Madam Hooch went to take her wand out to stop him, but he dived lower and all the students and the professor had to jump out of the way. The boy then soared upwards and his cloak got caught on the spear of a statue. Elizabeth looked up towards him and her eyes widened.

"His cloak is going to rip!" she shouted

And without another thought, despite Madam Hooch's complaints, she kicked off the ground and soared towards Neville. Just as she reached him, his cloak gave way and he began to fall. But Elizabeth was faster and she zoomed underneath him, grabbing his arm and swinging him onto her broom. The sudden weight change, however, made her broom unsteady and she slipped off, a few feet above the ground. She landed on her feet, but Liz heard and felt a crack. Neville fell on the ground as well, but he came out unscathed. The brunette tried to stand up but was without success; her ankle wouldn't let her stand properly. Many students cheered but Madam Hooch was concerned about the girl's ankle.

"Oh, oh, oh, oh dear. It's a broken ankle. Nothing Poppy can't fix." Hooch said, checking on Ellie's ankle "Everyone's to keep their feet firmly on the ground while I take Ms. Granger to the hospital wing. Understand? If I see a single broom in the air, the one riding it will find themselves out of Hogwarts before they can say, ' _Quidditch_ '."

Madam Hooch lead Elizabeth to the infirmary, making sure her foot didn't touch the ground. At the infirmary, the nurse, Poppy Pomfrey, came rushing towards them. The flying instructor left Liz in the hands of Madam Pomfrey and rushed away to conduct her class. Poppy ushered the young witch to a cot and looked at her ankle.

"What happened, dear?" she asked  
"Well, a classmate of mine lost control of his broom and was about to fall, so I flew up and caught him but I slipped and landed oddly on my foot." Elizabeth explained, wincing as the nurse moved her foot  
"You caught him?!" she asked surprised "Well, that was very brave of you."  
"Not really, I wasn't even thinking."

Madam Pomfrey went to a cupboard and fetched a bottle of some dark blue liquid. She poured a small amount into a glass and handed it to Elizabeth, insisting that she drink it. The taste was horrid according to her, but she swallowed all the same. The matron said that her ankle would take a little longer to heal than a wrist, so she'd be able to leave in about two hours. At first, Ellie thought she was joking; the muggle-born witch was used to casts that would have to be left on for months. Magic never ceased to amaze her. A few minutes later, Elizabeth was pulled out of her thoughts by someone entering the room. Her head of house, alongside a boy she recognized as Marcus Flint, stood at the end of her bed.

"Explain yourself." Snape said curtly  
"Longbottom was about to fall and break something again, so I flew up and caught him. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't compensate for the broom's unsteady shifting so I slipped and fell off. I landed on my feet, but not properly... Sir." Elizabeth explained never averting her gaze  
"I'm sure you know Mr Flint." Snape said, his gaze flickering to the boy standing beside him  
"Yes, Sir."  
"Professor McGonagall saw what you did and said that she would be... rather impressed if you weren't a... Slytherin." the Slytherin head of house continued "Which is why Marcus and I would like to offer you a position... as the new Chaser for the Slytherin Quidditch team."


	8. Quidditch & Quirinus Quirrell

"CONGRATULATIONS NEW SLYTHERIN CHASER!"  
"Thanks guys."  
"You know, Fred and George play Quidditch too. Beaters." Ron smiled at Harry and Elizabeth  
"Our job is to make sure that Harry doesn't get bloodied up too bad and that Ellie does." George chuckled "Can't make any promises that we'll save you, of course. Rough game, Quidditch."  
"Brutal." Fred completed "But no one's died in years. Someone will vanish occasionally..."  
"But they'll turn up in a month or two!" they shout in sync

Two hours had passed rather quickly and Elizabeth's ankle was all healed up. Professor Snape and Marcus Flint were pleased to announce that the new Slytherin Chaser would be none other than Elizabeth Rose Granger. Obviously, most first years were absolutely jealous. Usually, first years weren't allowed to be on the Quidditch team. Something else made the students even more jealous, though. Snape, just like McGonagall did for Harry, who also made it onto a Quidditch team but as a Seeker, had gotten Elizabeth a new broom as some sort of statement or reward (probably a statement towards his fellow professor). It was a Nimbus 2000 just like Harry's. Hermione thought it too dangerous for her, but that was only because she was afraid her sister would get hurt, which she most certainly would. Fred, George, Ron and Harry had gone to see her and congratulate her. It soon turned into the total opposite.

"We are so gonna knock you off your broom!" Fred shouted  
"You'll never know what hit you!" George continued  
"Well, I think a bludger is what will hit me, boys." Ellie chuckled  
"Oh, the Slytherin princess thinks she so funny?" the Weasley twins replied  
"Actually yes; I think I am pretty funny. What do you think Ronald?"  
"Do _not_ drag me into this, Elizabeth!"

Soon, the Weasley twins separated from the group and went to their next class. Hermione joined the trio, leaving her homework behind, as they made their way across the courtyard and into some sort of trophy room.

"Oh, Harry, Quidditch is great. Best game there is! And you'll be great, too!" Ron stated happily  
"But I've never even played Quidditch. What if I make a fool of myself?" Harry said  
"You won't make a fool of yourself. It's in your blood." Hermione butted in

The older Granger twin pointed to a rather large trophy in a glass case. Behind it, was a plaque with the names of a bunch of ex-Quidditch players. One of them was James Potter, Harry's father.

"Woah, Harry!" Elizabeth gasped "You never told me your father was a seeker!"  
"I-I didn't know."  
"Hey, Liz?" Ron suddenly asked "Have we showed you the common room yet?"  
"What? The Gryffindor common room?"  
"Yeah, she would love it!" Harry smiled  
"You sure it's a good idea?" Elizabeth asked, unsure  
"Personally, I don't think it wise to bring a Slytherin into the Gryffindor tower." Hermione said matter-of-factly  
"Oh, lighten up Hermione!" Liz teased "It won't kill anybody!"  
"Nice! Let's go then!"

Hermione rolled her eyes but followed the three others anyway. Harry and Ron lead Ellie towards the moving staircases. They climbed a few flight of stairs all while maintaining conversation. The staircases rarely moved when you were on them.

"I'm telling you, it's spooky. She knows more about you than you do." Ron spoke about Elizabeth's sister  
"Who doesn't?" the chosen one replied

Suddenly, the staircase shuddered and began to move. The four of them let out a yelp; Elizabeth's louder than everyone else's.

"Bloody hell!"  
"What's happening?" Harry asked  
"The staircases change, remember?" Hermione reminded the boys and her sister as the staircase came to a halt  
"Let's go this way."  
"Before the staircase moves again." Ron agreed

The four students took a few steps towards the door that was to their right. They all opened said door and walk into a spooky, dark room. The walls weren't even lit with any torches and the only source of light came from the moon.

"Does anyone feel like... we shouldn't be here?" the raven-haired boy asked  
"We're not supposed to be here." Elizabeth realized "This is the 3rd floor. It's forbidden."

Suddenly, a flame light shone on a nearby wall. At that moment, the caretaker's cat, Mrs Norris, came running in and meowed. The group jumped, startled. That cat was bad news wherever it went.

"Bugger." Elizabeth whispered "Let's go."  
"It's Filch's cat!" Ron pointed out "Run!"

The group ran in the opposite direction. Unlit wall torches were fired up as they passed by them. The four children got to the end of the corridor, to a door. Harry grabbed the handle and shook it, but it was locked.

"It's locked!"  
"That's it, we're done for!"  
"Oh, move over!" Elizabeth sighed as she pushed through and pulled out her wand " _Alohomora_."

The door magically opened _**(A/N: See what I did there? *wink wink*)**_ and Hermione shoved the boys inside. She followed them in and the younger twin entered last, shutting the door behind her. You could hear Filch and his cat just outside.

" _Alohomora_?" Ron asked, his voice barely above a whisper  
"Standard book of spells, Chapter 7." Hermione replied for her sister  
"Filch is gone." Liz stated  
"Probably thinks this door's locked." Ron said  
"It was locked." the older Granger twin said irritated  
"And for good reason..." Harry says

Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth slowly turned to stand with Harry. In front of them was a massive, sleeping three headed dog. Hearing the four kids' voices, said dog began to wake. It growled, yawned, and growled some more when it noticed the intruders. The group yelled together and bolted, running out of the door. They turned quickly to shut the door and battle against the dog that was probably trying to eat them. Eventually, they got the door shut and ran to the Gryffindor common room. The common room was a circular room full of squashy armchairs, tables, and a bulletin board where the usual school notices could be posted. A window looked out onto the grounds of the school, and a large fireplace dominated one wall. The walls were decorated with scarlet tapestries that depicted witches and wizards, but also various animals. The four friends took a seat in front of the fireplace.

"What do they think they're doing? Keeping a thing like that locked up in a school." Ron complained, scared out of his wits  
"You don't use your eyes, do you? Didn't you see what it was standing on?" Hermione asked  
"I wasn't looking at its feet!" Elizabeth shouted "I was a bit preoccupied with its heads. Or maybe you didn't notice, there were three!"  
"It was standing on a trap door. Which means it wasn't there by accident. It's guarding something."  
"Guarding something?" Harry voiced  
"That's right. Now, if you three don't mind, I'm going to bed before either of you come up with another clever idea to get us killed... or worse, expelled!" Hermione said and walked up the stairs towards the girl's dorms  
"She needs to sort out her priorities!" Ron said exasperated

Harry and Elizabeth nodded. The three talked for a while until curfew drew nearer. Elizabeth bid the boys goodnight and made her way back to her own common room, putting on her pyjamas and going straight to bed all while ignoring Rachel and Daphne's unpleasant glares. Soon she fell asleep, Aslan curled up against her neck, wondering what the three headed dog could possibly be guarding on the third floor. The next day, Liz was excused from her classes for the sole purpose of learning about Quidditch. She went to the Quidditch pitch to meet Harry and this Oliver Wood kid. Marcus Flint was supposed to tell her all about Quidditch today, but he had gotten detention with a teacher so Harry had asked Oliver if he could show them both. He surprisingly agreed. When Ellie arrived, Harry and Oliver were just opening a suitcase. It contained three balls of different sizes.

"Quidditch is easy enough to understand. Each time has seven players; three chasers - like Elizabeth - two beaters, one keeper and a seeker... that's you." Wood said, pointing to Harry "There are three kinds of balls."

He picked up a relatively large and red one.

"This one's called the Quaffle. Now, Granger, you and the other chasers handle the Quaffle and try to put it through one of those three hoops. That scores you ten points." Oliver said, pointing to the three rings at the end of the Pitch "The keeper, that's me, defends the hoops. With me so far?"  
"I think so. What are those?" Harry said, pointing to two squirming chained down balls  
"You better take these." Wood said

He handed Elizabeth and Harry a small bat each. The Gryffindor team Captain then bent down and released one ball. With an angry growl, it flew off into the air. The three players watched it soar. Then, the ball came whizzing down towards Elizabeth, who cracked at it with the bat. The ball soared off through a statue.

"Eh, not bad, Granger, you'd make a fair beater..." Wood complimented "Uh-oh."

The ball zoomed back down, this time towards Oliver who grabbed it, wriggling to get it back into the box. He eventually succeeded and tied it down, now breathless.

"Bludger. Nasty little buggers." the older boy said "Elizabeth you have to be extra careful with these. The beaters like to send bludgers towards the chasers to prevent them from scoring points. Now, Harry, the only ball I want you to worry about is this... the Golden Snitch."

Oliver handed Harry a walnut sized golden ball. Both new Quidditch players stared at it in awe.

"I like this ball." Harry chuckled  
"Ah, you like it now. Just wait. It's wicked fast and damn near impossible to see."  
"What do you do with it?" Elizabeth asked  
"You catch it... before the other team's seeker. You catch this, the game is over."

The ball fluttered out two delicate wings and jumped into the air. Harry kept an eye on it and so did Elizabeth, but the former found it easier to see. The two thanked Oliver for the information and headed back towards the castle to muse about the sport and tell each other that their teams sucked. In a teasing manner, obviously.

It was a few weeks later, and Elizabeth had been going to all the Quidditch practices. Surprisingly, no one complained about her and her _mudblood_ - _ness_. Liz also decided she'd eat lunch at her own table with Millicent for once. Today was Hallowe'en and a few students sported costumes when they weren't in class. Liz decided she'd wear black, a pair of cat ears and a tail; no muss, no fuss. Millicent chose to wear something silly. Apparently going as a dragon was her best idea. Most Gryffindors embraced the idea of Hallowe'en; the Weasley twins even went as far as being Peter Pan and his Shadow, a muggle classic. Unfortunately, most of the Slytherins didn't participate. The only ones who did donned simple costumes. Draco Malfoy was one of those students; he simply put on some fangs and cape, and _voila_! A vampire. The Hallowe'en feast was incredible though. Food was piled on the table and in Ellie's plate. Still, no one knew how she ate that much. All was going well until a large noise sounded, causing the entire hall to go silent. Professor Quirrel, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, came running into the center of the Great Hall, screaming his head off.

"TROLL IN THE D-DUNGEONS! T-TROLL IN THE DUNGEONS."

And then... he fainted.


	9. New Players

Professor Quirrell fainted. Not surprising considering he was always stuttering and avoiding people's glances. After the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher fainted and fell to the floor, the most nerve wracking silence fell upon the Great Hall. It took a few seconds for everyone to understand what was happening. Every smile at the Slytherin table faltered and their faces went still. Millicent began shaking and latched herself onto Elizabeth's arm. The brunette's smile faltered as well and her gaze immediately turned to the Gryffindor table. Harry had gotten the same idea and was looking over at her. Suddenly, the Hall erupted into screams and shouts of pure terror. Students began to run everywhere, clutching onto each other as if it were going to help them in any way. Elizabeth withheld a laugh when she saw that Draco Malfoy was the one who was freaking out the most, using Crabbe and Goyle as a human shield.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore shouted

Everyone stopped moving and screaming. Elizabeth, obviously panicked, stared wide-eyed at the professor. Hundreds of pairs of eyes fell upon Dumbledore as he began to speak in a calm voice.

"Everyone will please, not panic... Now, Prefects will lead their houses back to the dormitories. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

With a nod of their heads, the Prefects stood at the Hall's exit and began calling out to their house members. Elizabeth made her way to the line forming, Millicent still attached to her arm. She stood on the tip of her toes and tried to find Harry, Ron and Hermione. The Weasley twins were at the front so it was easy to spot them, but the other three... Green eyes scanned the sea of panicking children. Eventually, they fell upon a familiar pair of blue ones. Ron. Beside him, Harry stood, seemingly searching for Elizabeth as well. But Hermione... she wasn't there. Elizabeth began panicking. Her sister was missing! Where had she gone? Was she okay? Why wasn't she here? Harry seemed to understand the look on his friends face. As they were separating to go to their common rooms, Harry and Ron broke off from their group and tailed the Slytherins. Elizabeth tried to pry Millicent's hands off of her arm to go join them.

"Where are you going?!" she panted "Don't leave me! Oh, Merlin we should have stayed in the Great Hall... the troll is in the Dungeons! OUR COMMON ROOM IS IN THE DUNGEONS!"  
" _Millie_!" Elizabeth gasped "Calm down! Just... Uh... Just- here. Follow Malfoy, I'll be right back."  
"Hey! No way she's clinging onto me!" Malfoy complained  
"Shut your face, Malfoy." Liz snapped "It's better than Pug-Face Parkinson, if you ask me."

Malfoy paused for a second as if contemplating her response.

"Good point, Granger."

Elizabeth had no time to be surprised that he had agreed with her. Immediately when Millicent let go of her, she mouthed a thank you to the blonde and went to the back of the line to join Harry and Ron. The two boys were slinking behind the line of Slytherins, whispering something to each other. Liz grabbed the two by the hand and lead them past the Slytherin dormitories and further into the dungeons.

"Where is my sister!?" Elizabeth said in a loud whisper  
"We don't know." Harry said "She wasn't at dinner with us."  
"Bloody hell... You lost my sister?"  
"Liz we-"  
"Shush!" Liz interrupted, placing a finger to Ron's lips "You hear that?"

A constant, low booming sound resonated through the corridor. The raven-haired boy looked towards the sound, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Elizabeth removed her hand from Ron's face, his ears a light shade of pink, and followed Harry's gaze. The three of them heard a grunting sound and something being dragged across the stone floor. The young Potter pushed his friends into a nearby doorway as a large, ugly troll walked by dragging a club the size of Albus Dumbledore. It walked lazily towards an open door.

"He's going into the girls bathroom!" Harry said  
"He? I think it's more of an it, don't you think?" Ron replied  
"There's no time to discuss that thing's gender!" Elizabeth snapped "My sister could be in there!"

The trio made their way to the bathroom, trying to make the least noise possible. Suddenly, a loud crash echoed through the dungeons. Harry, Ron and Elizabeth broke into a sprint and arrived in the bathroom just as Hermione let out a loud scream. The troll went to swing his club again, but Elizabeth took out her wand and performed a successful immobilization charm on the troll.

" _Immobulus_!" she shouted "Hermione move, it won't hold long!"

Hermione dove underneath the sinks as the troll broke free from Elizabeth's spell and swung its arm, breaking the remainder of the toilet stalls. The boys started throwing pieces of wood at the troll to get it's attention away from Hermione. Ron managed to hit the troll on the head and it turned, its club narrowly missing the sinks. But the older twin squealed, and it got the troll's attention. It clumsily shifted and smashed the sinks next to Hermione. Harry got out his wand and ran forward, grabbing onto the things club. The troll had lift him up and Harry jumped onto its head. The monster shook back and forth, trying to throw the boy off but failed, ending up with Harry's wand up its nose.

"Ew..." Elizabeth and Ron sid in unison as Hermione cringed

The troll snorted and whipped around, managing to grab Harry by the leg. It swung its club at him, the raven-haired boy narrowly missing it by lifting himself after each swing. Elizabeth pointed her wand at the troll, taking a few steps closer and began to pronounce a spell, but her arm got clipped by the weapon the monster was swinging. She fell to the ground, hissing and clutching her arm in pain.

"LIZ! Ron, do something!" Harry called as he dodged the club again  
"What!?"  
"I don't care!" Liz called, her arm beginning to bleed "Something, _anything_!"

Ron grabbed his wand from his pocket and pointed it nervously at the giant in front of him. Hermione, still under the sink, took out her wand and imitated the _swish-and-flick_ movement they had been trying to learn in class. Ron nodded in confirmation and performed the spell on the club. It levitated in the air and dropped on its head. The troll wobbled and let go of Harry, who crawled away towards Elizabeth. The monster came crashing down hard, unconscious. Hermione crawled from out of underneath the sinks and looked over at the troll.

"Is it... dead?"  
"No, don't think so." Elizabeth groaned "Just knocked out."  
"ELIZABETH!" Hermione screeched, running over to her injured sister  
"I'm fine."  
"Fine?! You're arm is covered in blood!"  
"Just a scratch." Liz's chuckle soon turned into a cough

Harry walked across the room to retrieve his wand. He took it out of the troll's nose and found it covered in bogies. Suddenly, professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell came rushing into the bathroom. The head of Gryffindor house gasped as she saw the mess that the four students and the troll had caused. Snape's stony expression even faltered when he saw his Slytherin student bleeding profusely, on the bathroom floor.

"Oh! Oh my goodness! Explain yourselves, all of you!"  
"Well, the thing is-"  
"It's all _my_ fault, professor." Hermione interrupted the boys  
"Ms Granger?" McGonagall said incredulously  
"I went looking for the troll. I'd read about them and thought I could handle it. But I was wrong. If Elizabeth, Harry and Ron hadn't come and found me... I'd probably be dead."  
"And why is it... that your sister is bleeding on the bathroom floor?" Snape drawled, his features showing concern  
"I got a little too close for comfort, Sir." Elizabeth chuckled dryly, still clutching her arm

Snape nodded and helped Elizabeth get to her feet. She stood, slightly wobbly on her feet, and looked thankfully toward her sister. She had taken the blame. In a way, she had lied to her superiors. How very unlike Hermione... The dark professor held Elizabeth in place as professor McGonagall addressed the four children, sneaking nervous glances towards the unconscious troll.

"Be that as it may... it was an extremely foolish thing to do."

Elizabeth nodded in agreement, then looked at Harry, who was eyeing Snape suspiciously. She sent him a confused look, but he merely shrugged it off.

"I would have expected more rational behaviour on your part, Ms. Granger. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor for your serious lack of judgment." McGonagall said sternly "As for you three, especially Ms Granger, I just hope you realize how fortunate you are. Not many students could take on a full grown mountain troll and live to tell the tale. Five points will be awarded to each of you... For sheer dumb luck."

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth nodded. The latter was relieved that they didn't get into serious trouble, because they could have. The three professors had motive to expel all four of them. But this was Hogwarts, you don't get expelled easily, especially with Albus Dumbledore as Headmaster. Snape lead Elizabeth to the hospital wing. Since it was late, she had to stay overnight. The next morning, she had decided to avoid Millicent's questions and sit at the Gryffindor table. Once again, she sat between Fred and George, facing Harry, Ron and her twin. When she had woken up this morning, she had forgotten what today was. It was when she sat at the table and the Weasley twins mentionned it, that she went into panic mode.

"Ready, Slytherin Princess?"  
"Ready for what?" Elizabeth asked, shoving a piece of waffle in her mouth  
"No-" George gasped  
"Don't tell me." Fred continued dramatically  
" _You've forgotten_?!" the both of them chorused  
"Well, excuse me!" Ellie sighed loudly "I was a bit busy being mended in the hospital wing last night!"  
"It's Quidditch Day!"  
"Oh, _fuck_!" the brunette shouted wide-eyed  
" _Elizabeth Rose Granger_!" Hermione said crossly  
"Sorry, sorry... How could I have forgotten?!"  
"Well, you did get hit by a troll yesterday..." Ron admitted  
"True... I guess."

Elizabeth bit her lip out of nervousness. _Quidditch_? She had completely forgotten. It was her first game too... Her team was counting on her! She pushed her plate aside, now too nervous to eat anything. Her friends looked at her as if she had grown a second head; Elizabeth never refused food. The same could be said for Harry, who wasn't eating either.

"Take a bit of toast, mate." Ron told him  
"Ron's right, Harry." Hermione confirmed "You're going to need your strength, especially against the Slytherins. I've seen Liz train... She's fantastic."  
"Aw, thank you Mione." Liz smiled proudly  
"I'm not hungry." Harry complained

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Snape appeared behind him.

"Good luck today, _Potter_." he drawled "Then again, now that you've proven yourself against a troll... a little game of Quidditch should be easy work for you... even if it _is_ against our... _best_ player." he added, glancing in Elizabeth's direction who smiled faintly

The professor walked away, well more like limped away, leaving Fred and George giggling like little school girls, a goofy smile on each of their faces.

"Looks like Sevy's got a new favourite." Fred teased  
"Oh shut it, Frederick." Liz snapped playfully "And, _Sevy_?"  
"It's your future couple's name!" George teased  
"Okay, enough!" Elizabeth laughed, smacking him on the arm  
"That explains the blood." Harry said, noticing Snape's limp  
"Blood?" Elizabeth inquired, still laughing "It could have been mine..."  
"No it wasn't yours, Liz." the boy continued "Listen, last night, I'm guessing Snape let the troll in as a diversion so he could try and get past that 3 headed dog. But, he got himself bitten, that's why he's limping."  
"But why would anyone go near that dog?" Hermione said, ignoring her sister's glare towards Harry  
"The day I was at Gringotts, Hagrid took something out of one of the vaults. He said it was Hogwarts business, very secret."  
"So you're saying..."  
" _That's_ what the dog is guarding. _That's_ what Snape wants." Harry finished  
"You really think Professor Snape is after something?" Elizabeth defended, her expression now similar to said professor's  
"Well, yeah..." Ron shrugged "I mean look at him."

Elizabeth scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Do you have any reason to doubt him?"  
"Well, yeah. He's a Slytherin who hates muggles!"

Elizabeth stood up abruptly and adjusted her robes.

"In case you haven't noticed _Weasley_ , I am a Slytherin _and_ a muggle at that. Also, if you haven't notice, he _doesn't_ hate me!"

And with that, Liz stormed off to her dormitory ignoring the protests coming from the Weasley twins and her sister. She grabbed her Quidditch uniform and shoved it in her bag before sauntering off towards the locker rooms. How could Ronald say that? As if her head of house was trying to steal from Dumbledore! Elizabeth couldn't believe it... She didn't want to. For some reason, she felt the need to trust the man.

As she turned a corner, she bumped into someone.

"Sorry..." she mumbled before walking off  
"Granger!" a familiar voice called

Elizabeth turned around and was faced with Draco Malfoy. She huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms, staring expectantly at him.

"What do you want, _Malfoy_?" Ellie said crossly  
"You seem angrier than usual." he chuckled  
"I have no time for this..."

Elizabeth made to leave but was stopped when she was held back by an hand gripping her wrist. The brunette whipped around and stared into Malfoy's cold grey eyes.

"Spit it out." she urged him  
"I uh..." he hesitated, letting go of her wrist "I just wanted to wish you luck... I'll be cheering for you."

Ellie's hardened gaze softened at his sudden confession. It both relaxed her and surprised her to hear this. She thought it odd he was telling her this, but after the conversation she just had, she'd take any form of kindness. Whether it be true of not. Her shoulders relaxed and gave the young blonde a small half smile. Elizabeth readjusted the bag that was hastily slung over her shoulder. She shifted her feet and, which was so unlike her, shyly looked down.

"Thanks, Draco..." she looked back up "I needed that."

The two smiled at each other and Elizabeth turned around, entering the Quidditch team locker rooms and changed into her uniform. After a short pep talk and Flint's revelation to Liz that she'd be announced as a new player at the start of the game, her and the team made their way onto the pitch. Hundreds of students were screaming and chanting for the Gryffindors who had already arrived. When Elizabeth and her team walked onto the pitch, a wave of green flashed over the stands and hundreds of children began shouting ' _Go Slytherin_!'. Liz's face immediately broke into a smile and all her nerves flooded away. She was were she was meant to be. The Slytherins stood in front of the Gryffindors' team, each captain at the front. Elizabeth and Harry faced each other and sent one another a reassuring look. Madam Hooch then came up to them and the commentator began talking.

" _Hello, and welcome to Hogwarts' first Quidditch game of the season! Today's game Slytherin versus Gryffindor_!" the commentator, Lee Jordan, spoke into the voice amplifier " _Today, we're introducing two new players that we didn't have last season. First, let's welcome... on team Gryffindor: Harry Potter_!"

The crowd, mostly Gryffindors, erupted in cheer. More cheer than Elizabeth expected for herself. Ellie looked at him and saw that he was obscenely nervous. The team could use that as an advantage.

" _Last... but surely not least... on the Slytherin team; the Slytherin Princess: Elizabeth Granger_!"

Liz rolled her eyes. Fred and George probably put him up to the nickname. If Elizabeth thought the cheering was loud, it sure got louder. She wasn't expecting that. All the Slytherins, including Pansy Parkinson, though she'd never admit to it, were chanting ' _Granger_ ' in repetition. Even a few Gryffindors she knew began to cheer for her. She took the advantage of the moment and stepped forward, turned to the crowd and graced them with a mock bow. She stood back up, and received a proud slap on the back from Marcus Flint who chuckled at her antics. Lee commented about the girl's humouristic nature. Madam Hooch then began talking over Lee Jordan's comments.

"Now, I want a nice clean game... all of you." she said, her gaze lingering on Marcus "Mount your brooms."

Both teams mounted their brooms and zoomed into the air. Harry and Liz stayed down for a few seconds longer to shake hands and wish each other luck. Soon after, the two mounted their Nimbus 2000s and hovered steadily, about forty feet in the air. Madam Hooch opened the trunk and kicked it, releasing the two bludgers. She took out the Snitch and threw it in the air before grabbing the Quaffle and tossing it as well. The game began. Within seconds, Elizabeth was on Angelina Johnson's tail. She was the fastest Chaser on the Gryffindor team. But Liz was faster. She zoomed forward, dodging a well aimed bludger from Fred Weasley and swiftly grabbed the Quaffle from Johnson. She flipped and turned around, eyeing Oliver Wood from afar. With Katie Bell and Johnson on her tail, she passed the Quaffle to Flint, who then passed it to Bletchley as he avoided a bludger. Elizabeth could hear Lee Jordan talk about various events in the game but wasn't paying attention. She had to concentrate and gain her team mates respect. Bell grabbed the Quaffle from Bletchley and passed it to Angelina, but Liz intercepted it and threw it into the left hoop. Wood missed it by an inch.

" _First goal of the game goes to Elizabeth Granger of Slytherin_!"

The Slytherins in the stand erupted into cheers and chanted Elizabeth's name once more. Malfoy, as the team would later tell her, cheered the loudest. But the celebration was short lived as the Quaffle was taken by Katie Bell. She passed it over Flint, who missed it by a few seconds, and Johnson caught it, sending the ball into the middle hoop. Gryffindor cheered, but Flint stole the Quaffle and zoomed towards the goal posts, neglecting to make any passes. He threw it, but Oliver Wood blocked it easily. That's when the game got dirty. Marcus grabbed a random beater's bat and smacked a bludger directly at Wood. Oliver got hit and fell down from his broom. Elizabeth gasped, and as the Slytherins laughed, she went up to Marcus and flicked his forehead.

"Don't do that you knob!" she yelled over the booing of the crowd "You could get suspended or even worse, they could have won by default!"

The brunette zoomed off towards the Quaffle before Flint could protest. Bletchley scored once then stole it again. Elizabeth took it, without him realizing and zoomed off just before Johnson could take it from him. She aimed to throw it at the third hoop but smiled and threw it into the first, making Wood unable to reach it in time.

" _And a nice play by Granger! Ten points for Slytherin!_ "

As she turned around, she saw Harry diving for the snitch. She smiled to herself and mentally cheered him on, before snapping out of it and narrowly dodging a bludger sent by George. She sent him an exasperated look and he shrugged it off with a laugh, before smacking another ball towards the Slytherin seeker. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and darted towards the Quaffle, scoring another ten points for her team. Suddenly, the whole crowd gasped and as Liz avoided yet another bludger, she looked over her shoulder to see Harry dangling off the side of his broom. She cursed to herself, and carried on with the game. No time to have pity for Harry, unfortunately. Anyway, she was sure her sister and Ron could handle it, if necessary. Well, maybe not _Weasley_. A few goals, from Slytherin later, and the crowd began to cheer for Harry again. Liz snuck a quick glance at him and saw that the seeker was back on his broom. After what seemed like no time at all, a bell chimed, signaling the end of the game. Harry had caught the snitch with his mouth. Who knew that was even possible? Ellie smiled and clapped lightly for her friend, even though she was disappointed her team hadn't won. She looked at the cheering crowd and locked eyes with the sole person who had wished her luck before her first game. His grey eyes lit up as they fell upon her green ones. Malfoy gave her a light smile and nodded respectfully. Elizabeth returned the gesture and dismounted her broom with her team. Both teams shook hands and then went to the locker rooms to change into their everyday clothes; all students had the rest of the day off. Liz received many pats on the back and high fives from her teammates because she had scored the most points for her team. Lucky her. Even professor Snape had congratulated Ellie on her good work. Fred and George had apologized for sending her so many bludgers. Their excuse was that they had to because Wood said so. Apparently he was afraid of how good she was.

Hermione, _Weasley_ , Harry and the twins went back to their common room to celebrate, whereas the Slytherins spent their day moping about it. Elizabeth went to her common room to finish up her History of Magic homework and then went back to her beech tree near the Black Lake to play her guitar. And until dinner, she played it. Liz even sang a bit when she was sure no one was looking. But not even the greatest wizard can be completely sure of anything...


	10. Use it Well

It was fine day. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. The Giant Squid was happily splashing in the Black Lake. Screams of children filled the air as the Weasley twins set fireworks in the girls' bathroom again, and Elizabeth was calmly playing guitar, a small smile gracing her lips. Strands of her dark chocolate hair fell in front of her eyes but were quickly pushed away by the soft autumn breeze, and her jade green eyes observed her rapidly moving fingers as they strummed her guitar strings. The girl was in her happy place; no people, no worries and her guitar. But that peaceful atmosphere was quickly disturbed by the sound of loud whispering. Elizabeth's dainty fingers stopped strumming and she raised her head curiously. Hermione, _Weasley_ and Harry were walking with Hagrid, presumably down to his hut. Ellie's interest suddenly piqued, she shrunk her guitar and followed them. The trio stopped, and Liz hid behind a nearby tree. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop on people, especially her friends, but something about them suspecting Snape of betraying Dumbledore irked her. And she intended to find out exactly what they were thinking.

"Nonesense." a loud booming voice, presumably Hagrid's sounded "Why would Snape put a curse of Harry's broom?"  
"Who knows?" she recognized Harry's voice "Why was he trying to get past that three headed dog, on Hallowe'en?"  
"Who told you 'bout Fluffy?"  
" _Fluffy_?" another voice squeaked. _Weasley_ "That thing has a name?"  
"Well, of course he's got a name. He's mine." Hagrid said proudly "Bought 'im off an Irish feller I met down at the pub las' year. Then I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the-"  
"Yes?" Harry insisted  
"Shouldn'ta said that. Don't ask any more questions. That's top secret, that is."  
"But Hagrid! Whatever Fluffy is guarding, _Snape's_ trying to steal it!"  
" _Codswallop_!" Hagrid shouted "Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher."

Finally someone who agreed with Elizabeth.

"Hogwarts teacher or not, I know a curse when I see one." her sister finally piped up "I've read all about them. You have to keep eye contact. And Snape wasn't blinking."  
"Maybe he was muttering a counter-curse." Elizabeth said, slinking out from behind the tree

The trio and Hagrid turned quickly towards the source of the sound. Ron's ears immediately went red, both Harry and Hermione gave Liz sympathetic looks, Hagrid just stood there confused. Elizabeth crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for them to respond.

"I'm as smart as you Hermione." she continued when their response didn't come "You also have to keep eye-contact if you're performing a counter-curse. Can you accept that? Or are you going to keep insulting my head of house?"  
"Why do you have such _blind_ _faith_ in the man?" Ron shouted  
"Because-"  
" _Guys_! _Stop_! Look, Elizabeth, I'm sorry..." Hermione sighed "But we have to figure this out. So, how about we get to the bottom of this? Together, all four of us. And if you're right, I'll make up for it. I promise."

Elizabeth sighed. She didn't like that her friends were somewhat against her, but if she wanted to prove them wrong, she'd have to go along with her sister's plan. But before she could answer, Hagrid spoke up.

"Now, you listen to me, all four of you. You're meddlin' in things that ought not to be meddled in. It's dangerous."  
"And I suppose it's none of our business?" Elizabeth said, an idea popping into her head  
"That's right! What that dog is guarding is strictly between Professor Dumbledore and Nicholas Flamel."  
"Nicholas Flamel?" Liz smirked, tilting her head  
"You little cunning..." Hagrid's voice trailed off "Why did I say that? I should not have said that."

The half-giant retreated into his hut, mumbling about his mistake. Elizabeth's smirk grew when Harry and Hermione smiled at her deviousness. Extra information is always appreciated, and if you're personality can get it for you, why not?

"You are a cunning little girl aren't you?" Hermione chuckled  
"Perks of being a Slytherin, I guess." Liz said, leaning on the tree she was hiding behind  
"Now, uh... Who's Nicholas Flamel?" Harry asked  
"I don't know..." Hermione shrugged

* * *

The next few weeks were spent either in class, or in the library. Well, for Elizabeth and Hermione anyway. Ron and Liz had made up and were now on speaking terms and the four of them were trying to figure out who Nicholas Flamel was. So far, they had read almost every book in the library and they still hadn't found anything. Elizabeth even had to mention the restricted section to her sister, which got her an hour's worth of scolding.

It was now Christmas Eve, and most students were packing their trunks. The Express would be arriving within the hour to bring all the willing students back to King's Cross station. As Hermione and Elizabeth made their way to the Great Hall, the latter was stopped by one Draco Malfoy. He sneered in Hermione's direction, causing her to leave rapidly and Liz to roll her eyes.

"How may I help you, _your highness_?" Elizabeth sighed, giving the boy a mock curtsy  
"Why do you always think I want something, Granger?" the blonde replied with a chuckle "Although I do appreciate the curtsy."  
"Because usually, you do." the girl continued with an eye roll  
"Name one time."  
"The time you asked me to chop your roots in Potions class. That other time when you asked to copy my transfiguration homework. Oh, and remember yesterday when you asked if I could give you a foot massage?" Liz said with a smug smile on her face  
"Okay, maybe I ask a lot." Malfoy admitted with an eye roll "But I deserved that foot massage!"  
"Walking away-"  
"Hey! Wait! Come on, I just wanted- oh nevermind."

Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and turned back around. Malfoy stood there, his hands shoved far down his pockets and his head thrown back in exasperation.

"Happy Christmas to you too, Draco."

And with a knowing wink and a smirk, Elizabeth sauntered off towards her sister and the two boys playing wizard's chess. Hermione turned around and quickly hugged her sister before walking out of the Hall. Harry and Ron gave Liz a confused look as she sat down next to them.

"Associating with Malfoy, now?" Harry sighed  
"Oh don't get your panties in a twist, Harry." Liz chuckled "He still pisses me off most of the time."  
"Good." the raven-haired boy smiled  
"Aren't you going with your sister?" Ron asked  
"Were you expecting to get rid of me, Ronald?" the brunette joked  
"What if I was?"  
"Then you'd be screwed." Elizabeth laughed "My parents get on my nerves, especially during the holidays. If I can avoid them, awesome."  
"Well, we're happy to have you with us." Harry said, taking one of Ron's rooks  
"You better be!" Liz chuckled, grabbing a candy cane from a bowl on the table "What about you, I thought you were going home for the holidays."  
"Change of plans. My parents decided to go to Romania to visit my brother Charlie." Ron replied  
"Oh, he studies dragons?"  
"How'd you know?" Ron asked with a sigh; Harry had taken another rook  
"Why else would you go to Romania, Ronald?"

Ron nodded in agreement and the two boys finished their game of chess. Elizabeth then insisted they go outside and enjoy the snow. Harry agreed straight away, and Ron agreed only after the raven-haired boy began to nag him about it. Liz went down to her dorm and put on warmer clothing, then met the boys at the entrance to the courtyard. For a few hours, Harry, Ron and Elizabeth ran around, had a snowball fight and practiced their spellwork by turning a log into a toboggan. After disturbing the Giant Squid that was underneath the ice on the lake, the trio went inside for dinner in the Great Hall, and a hot cup of cocoa in the Gryffindor common room. The three friends drank their cocoa and ate many sweets by the fire.

"I'm staying here." Elizabeth blurted out  
"Wait. What?" Ron said  
"It'll be like a sleep over... kind of." the girl continued excitedly "There's no one in my dorm... It'll be boring."  
"I don't see why not, I mean Neville and Seamus aren't here." Harry said "She could steal one of their beds."  
"YES! I'll be right back; getting my PJs!" Liz said happily as she bounced out of her seat "Hey, what's the password again?"  
" _Caput Draconis_."

Elizabeth nodded and ran out the portrait hole. She hopped, skipped and jumped down the hall, pausing at every corner to make sure there were no professors or that she didn't run into Peeves the Poltergeist. Liz made it to her common room, uttered the password and jogged to her dorm. The few Slytherins that were there gave her odd looks as she ran past, shoving her pyjamas into her book bag. She exited the common room and as she passed the potions classroom, she saw professor Snape sitting at his desk, presumably marking papers. She hadn't seen him all through dinner, not that she was supposed to care. But with recent events (her friends blaming him for jinxing Harry's broom and trying to get passed fluffy), she subconsciously felt sorry for him.

"Are you going to stand there all night, Ms Granger." a voice drawled from inside the classroom  
"Uh... no. No, Sir." Elizabeth stuttered as she entered the classroom  
"What do you want?"  
"Uh, I just- I just wanted to-"  
"Spit it out, Ms Granger." Snape urged "I have parchments to grade."  
"Happy Christmas, Sir." Elizabeth blurted out quickly

Elizabeth swallowed nervously and lowered her gaze. She suddenly found her sneakers quite interesting. Snape just stared at her for a few seconds before his gaze fell back to his papers. Elizabeth took that as an incentive to leave, which she began to do until her professor spoke up again.

"Happy Christmas to you too, Ms Granger."

Elizabeth smiled and walked out of the classroom. She ran up to Gryffindor tower, said the password to the Fat Lady, who reluctantly let her in, and jumped on the sofa, making Ron fall down. Harry and Liz laughed and eventually, after a light scowl, Ron joined in on the laughter. Soon enough, Harry and Ron were sleeping in their own beds and Elizabeth had taken over Neville's because Seamus' side of the room looked like World War II.

The sun had barely began to rise when Elizabeth "woke up" the next morning. The sun was peaking over the Black Lake, the Giant Squid was gently tapping against the ice and the snow sparkled just like diamonds. Liz was sleeping peacefully until she felt something poke her forehead. She swatted the hand away subconsciously. Suddenly, she felt herself lift off the bed and fall down again. Her eyelids flew open and she gasped. Ron and Harry were jumping on the bed.

"You guys, I swear-"  
"Oh, crap! She's awake!"

The two boys jumped off the bed and ran out the door. Elizabeth laughed and ran after them and stopped when she reached the balcony that had a view over the common room. Harry and Ron were standing by a large Christmas tree with gifts hiding underneath it. Ellie's smile widened at the sight of her friends and, of course, the gifts. She rushed downstairs and sat down in front of the tree. She grabbed the first present and checked the tag, then handed it to Ron. Three gifts later, the three of them donned Mrs Weasley's hand-knit jumpers. Ron complained, but Elizabeth was amazed that she got a gift from a woman she'd never even met. Liz received an advanced potion book from her sister, a bunch of sweets from Ron, a Quidditch book from Harry (Liz and Harry got each other the same thing) and she got a few comic books from her parents. The trio was on their last present and it just so happened to be for Harry.

" _Your father left this in my possession before he died; it is time it was returned to you._ " Harry read off the card " _Use it well._ "  
"Mysterious..." Elizabeth chuckled, popping an every flavour bean in her mouth; she gagged when she found out it was an earwax bean

Harry unwrapped the gift and took out a large piece of a dark fabric.

"What is it?" Ron asked, stealing one of Ellie's chocolate frogs  
"I think it's some kind of... Cloak." the glasses-clad boy said  
"Well, let's see then." Liz urged, slapping Ron's hand away from her sweets "Put it on."

The raven-haired boy complied and swung the cloak over his shoulders. Suddenly, everything but his head disappeared.

" _Woah_!" Ron and Elizabeth shouted simultaneously  
"My body's gone!" Harry gasped  
"I know what that is! It's an invisibility cloak!" Liz said  
"I'm invisible?"  
"They're really rare!" Ron told his friend "Who is it from?"  
"It didn't say... it just said ' _use it well._ '"


	11. The Mirror of Erised

The same day, in the middle of the night, Harry had gone to the restricted section of the library to search for things on Nicholas Flamel. He used his invisibility cloak to hide him from the eyes of professors roaming the halls. Elizabeth had stayed in Neville's bed again, because she didn't want to sleep in an empty dormitory in the cool and dark dungeons. She laid on her back, one arm over her stomach and the other beside her head, that was turned to face a snoring Ronald Weasley in the bed beside hers. Suddenly, she was being shaken awake by Harry. She groggily opened her eyes and groaned, displeased that she was being woken up at such an hour.

The raven-haired boy dragged his two friends under the invisibility cloak and into a certain room in the castle. At the end of said room stood a large mirror known as the Mirror of Erised. This mirror showed you your deepest desires. Harry said he saw his parents smiling at him. When Ron looked at the mirror, he saw himself as head boy, winning the house cup and as the Gryffindor Quidditch team captain. Apparently he looked good. While the two boys seemed happy with what they saw, Elizabeth was more confused than anything else. She saw herself... but older. Her face was not longer covered in light freckles, but in darker ones. Her eyes were still the same shade of jade green and her hair was set in their classic natural waves. She looked beautiful. In front of her stood two boys. One had dark brown hair and grey eyes, his appearance resembling Elizabeth's. The other had her jade green eyes and the same hair as the man who stood next to her. Said man's hand was intertwined with hers and a shining emerald ring decorated a special finger on her left hand. It was an older version of Draco Malfoy, who stood beside Elizabeth, with a soft genuine smile gracing his lips.

"Well, what do you see Liz?" Ron urged, still happy about what he had seen  
"Me..." Elizabeth responded vaguely, her eyebrows furrowed  
"What is it? You seen more confused than anything else." Harry said  
"Well, it's me... but older." the girl continued "There are two boys our age in front of me and..."  
"And what?" Ronald asked  
"I'm married?" Liz said as more of a question, avoiding mentioning the blonde man smiling down at the older her "I have a family... Do you think this mirror shows the future?"  
"How can it? Both my parents are dead..." Harry smiles sadly  
"Then maybe it shows us what we want." Ron added  
"Want?" Ellie asked, tilting her head and looking back at the mirror

The two boys looked at her oddly. Surely what she saw, she liked? To be honest, Elizabeth neither liked or hated what she saw. She was just surprised and confused as to why the mirror would show her that. Just before the trio left, Liz glanced over her shoulder just in time to see her older self rest her head upon the older Malfoy's shoulder and her ring-clad hand run itself through one of the boy's hair. The three young wizards went back to the Gryffindor common and straight to bed. Elizabeth dreamed of what her eyes had registered that night, and what her mind couldn't.

Soon enough, the start of term rolled around and Elizabeth was reunited with her sister. Which also meant that she would be reunited with the library. Indeed, the following week was spent sitting at the table among all the thick old books. That same week, Elizabeth and Hermione realized something. So, as the boys were studying in the library, Liz and her sister came up to them and slammed a large thick book onto the table, in front of them.

"We had you looking in the wrong section!" Elizabeth shouted  
"How could I be so stupid?" Hermione continued "I checked this out a few weeks ago for a bit of light reading."  
"This is light?" Ron asked, a bewildered expression on his face  
"Of couse!" Hermione glared turning a few pages "Here it is! ' _Nicholas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone_.'"  
"The what?" Ron and Harry chorused  
"Honestly, don't you two read?" Elizabeth argued  
"' _The Philosopher's Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers. It will turn any metal into pure gold and produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal_.'" Hermione read  
"Immortal?" Ron said  
"It means you'll never die, Ronald." Liz joked  
"I know what it means!"  
"Shhh!" Harry shushed his red-headed friend  
"' _The only stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicholas Flamel, the noted alchemist, who last year celebrated his 665th birthday._ '"  
"That's what Fluffy's guarding on the 3rd floor." Elizabeth gasped "That's what's under the trapdoor... the Philosopher's Stone!"

The four of them looked at each other and the bell rang, signaling their next class. Elizabeth parted ways with the trio and headed to her common room to fetch her books for her Transfiguration class. After Crabbe and Goyle managed to blow up their goblets, as Seamus did the previous class, the rest of the day went smoothly for the young witch. She spoke often with the Weasley twins, helping them devise plans to prank the pranking poltergeist, Peeves, and had no arguments with a certain blonde Slytherin, whose appearance in the mirror of Erised still bothered Elizabeth. That same night, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth decided to go Hagrid's hut and ask him more about the Philosopher's Stone. It was easy enough for the Gryffindor trio to get out of their common room, but it wasn't as easy for Elizabeth who had all eyes on her as soon as she walked through the whole in the wall, whether it be because she was a _mudblood_ or boys simply found her pretty enough to look at. It was particularly difficult to get around Pansy Parkinson.

"Where do you think you're going, _mudblood_?" a high nasal voice sounded behind her  
"Somewhere where you aren't going to be, _Parkinson_." Elizabeth said, turning to face said voice

Pansy Parkinson wasn't an unattractive girl. She had a medium length bob haircut that framed her squared face. Her dark brown hair contrasted her pale brown eyes, and her slightly upturned button nose was centered in her face. The thing that made Pansy Parkinson unattractive was her nasally voice and her nasty comments about anything and everything that wasn't in her favour. Including, a _mudblood_ _Slytherin_.

"Oh, snappy aren't we?" Parkinson giggled "It'll be curfew soon, you're not allowed to be out there."  
"Aw, it's nice to know that you care if I get into trouble, Pansy." Elizabeth said sweetly "But I can take care of myself, thanks."  
"You little-"  
"Pansy, just... let her go." a familiar voice said to her right  
"Fine." she said with a stern face which softened immediately "Anything for you, _Drakeypoo_."

Ellie almost snorted with laughter. Pansy skipped away happily. When she had exited the room, Elizabeth couldn't contain her laughter anymore. She laughed so hard that she began to cry. Draco shot her a seriously annoyed look.

" _Drakeypoo_?" Elizabeth said between giggles "That... is the best thing... I've heard... all year!"  
"Yes, it's hilarious." Malfoy said, deadpan "Now go on before I change my mind, Granger."  
"Fine, anything for you _Drakeypoo_."  
"Granger!"

Elizabeth laughed as she hurried out of the whole in the wall, afraid that Malfoy would chase after her and hex her into next year. By the time she got to the main hall, where Harry, Hermione and Ron were waiting for her, she had managed to calm down but still had a large smile on her lips. The trio asked her why that was, and when she told them that Parkinson called Malfoy, ' _Drakeypoo_ ', they could barely manage to control their laughter as they passed Filch and his cat. After a short walk, the quartet made it to Hagrid's hut. They knocked on the door and a few seconds later they were met with Hagrid's giant form, who was was clad in oven mitts and an apron.

"Oh, 'ello. Sorry, don't wish to be rude, but I'm in no fit state to entertain today." he said, then began to close the door  
" _We know about the Philosopher's Stone_!" the four chorused, causing Hagrid to reopen the door and let them in  
"We think, well minus Elizabeth, that Snape's trying to steal it." Harry said  
"Snape? Blimey, you're not still on abou' him are yeh?" Hagrid asked, standing in front of the fireplace "I'd listen to Elizabeth if I were you."  
"Thank you Hagrid." Elizabeth smirked "At least someone here has a bit of common sense."  
"Look, we just don't know why, he's trying to steal it!"  
"Snape is one of the teachers _protecting_ the stone! He's not about to steal it!" the giant argued, earning confused looks from the three Gryffindors and a proud one from the Slytherin  
"What?" Harry said  
"You heard, righ'. Now, come on, I'm a bit preoccupied today."  
"Wait a minute... one of the teachers?" Harry asked as Fang, Hagrid's dog, inched closer to Ron's face and sniffed him  
"Of course! There are other things guarding the stone! Spells and enchantments!" Hermione pointed out  
"That's righ'! Waste of bloody time if yeh ask me." Hagrid said as Ron tried to move away from Fang "Ain't no one gonna get past Fluffy. Not a soul know! Except for me and Dumbledore- I shouldn't have told yeh that..."

Suddenly, something began to rattle behind Hagrid. The gentle giant began to panic in an excited manner and turned around, grabbing something out of a rattling cauldron. He placed the roundish shape onto the table and the four children gathered 'round.

"Uh, Hagrid? What excatly is that?" Harry asked, an air of uncertainty drawn onto his features  
"That? It's uh... It's-"  
"I know what that is!" Ron gasped "But Hagrid, how did you get one?"  
"I won it!" the half-giant said proudly "Off a stranger I met down at a pub. Seemed quite glad to be rid of it, as a matter o' fact."

Suddenly, the egg started to rattle again and began to crack. Pieces of the object started to fly off and soon, a small creature emerged. It was scaly, like a lizard. But it had... wings?

"Is that... a _dragon_?" Elizabeth asked, fascinated  
"It's not just a dragon, Liz! It's a Norwegian Ridgeback; my brother works with these in Romania!" Ron smiled  
"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid said softly "Oh, bless him, look; he knows his mummy. Hallo, Norbert."  
"Norbert?" Harry said  
"Yeah, well, he's got to have a name don't he? Don't ya, Norbert?"

The four students chuckled, amazed by the dragon. Suddenly, the small dragon hiccuped and sent a miniature fireball into Hagrid's beard. He took one of his oven mitts and patted it down quickly, before resuming petting his new baby dragon. Norbert squeaked happily and the half-giant raised his head to look at his company when he noticed something outside the window. The quartet turned to look and the figure scampered away.

" _Malfoy_." Elizabeth noticed "I am so going to hex him into next year..."

* * *

 **Fun Fact**

 **On the Mirror of Erised there's an inscription that reads: "Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi."**

 **Change the spacing and add punctuation: ".Erised s'traeh ruoy tub ,ecaf ruoy ton wohs I."**

 **Flip it around: "I show not your face, but your heart's desire."**

 **You're Welcome,**

 **Stark**


	12. The Forbidden Forest

Malfoy shrunk under Elizabeth's glare. But as soon as she turned away, his signature smirk was plastered onto his face once again. After the young blonde had run off when Harry, Ron, Hermione and Liz were at Hagrid's hut, he had gone to get professor McGonagall. Now, Harry, Hermione and Ron were stood in front of their head of house's desk, awaiting punishment. Malfoy and Elizabeth stood off to the side, since they were both Slytherins and McGonagall didn't like any kind of Slytherin.

" _Nothing_ , I repeat, _nothing_ gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. Therefore, as punishment for your actions, fifty points will be taken."  
" _Fifty_!?" Harry gasped  
" _Each_. And that includes you as well, Ms Granger." McGonagall said, her gaze shifting to Elizabeth "And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all five of you will receive detention."

Malfoy immediately smirked in satisfaction, but when he looked over at the green-eyed girl next to him, his smirk fell. His proud expression turned into a confused one.

"Excuse me, Professor. Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said... ' _the_ _four_ ' of us."  
"No, you heard me correctly, Mr. Malfoy." McGonagall confirmed "You see, as honorable as your intentions were, you too were out of bed after hours. You will serve detention with your classmates."

Elizabeth, Ron, Harry and Hermione mouths all twitched into grins as Malfoy sagged. Liz turned her head and sent a smug look at her fellow Slytherin who returned it with a dirty look. The following night, the five students had gotten their cloaks and were escorted out of the school by the caretaker, Mr Filch. As they were walking across the grounds to Hagrid's hut, Filch was complaining about how the new punishments weren't sufficient. He preferred it when students were hung by their thumbs in the dungeons and he would hear the screaming all through the night. Elizabeth sent Harry an unsure look; she didn't believe Filch's statement. But beside her, Malfoy gulped, which made Liz smile. He deserved to be scared.

"You'll be serving detention with Hagrid tonight. He's got a little job to do inside the dark forest." Filch said as they approached a sniffling Hagrid holding a crossbow "A sorry lot this, Hagrid. Oh, good God, man, you're not still on about that _bloody_ dragon, are you?"  
"Norbert's gone." the half-giant chocked out "Dumbledore's sent him off to Romania to live in a colony."  
"Well, that's good, isn't it? He'll be with his own kind." Hermione tried to reassure  
"Yeah, but what if he don't like Romania? What if the other dragons are mean to him? He's only a baby, after all."  
"Oh, for God's sake, pull yourself together, man!" Filch complains "You're going into the forest after all. Got to have your wits about you."  
"The forest? I thought that was a joke!" Malfoy shouted  
" _Scared_ , _Malfoy_?" Elizabeth said shrewdly  
"What? No, it's just- we can't go in there! Students aren't allowed and there are... werewolves." the boy continued as a howl was heard in the distance  
"There's more than werewolves in those trees, lad. You can be sure of that... Nighty-night." the caretaker smiled mischievously then walked away leaving behind a terrified Malfoy

Stepping into the forbidden forest robbed you of one sense and heightened the others. It was disorientating to be almost blinded but, given the ears of a wolf, even the soft whisper of the branches felt heavy in the ears. The loam in the earth and the decomposing leaves made the atmosphere damp and thick. The blackness created a sense of claustrophobia inside you even though the woodland stretched unbroken for miles. The narrow path, which was made uneven by the knotted roots that crossed it, branched at intervals. There was no map to follow, but even if there was the perpetual dark would prevent you from using it. Only the soft candlelight of Hagrid's lantern would take you through. That's why Elizabeth, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Malfoy clung close to the half-giant and his boar hound, Fang. The five students are eventually stopped by the half-giant as he bends down beside a tree. He stuck his fingers into something and raised them, now covered in a silvery liquid.

"Hagrid... what's _that_?" Elizabeth asked  
"What we're here for. That's unicorn's blood, that is." Hagrid said and all the children's eyes went wide "I found one dead a few weeks ago. Now, this one's been injured bad by something. So, it's our job to find the poor beast. Ron, Hermione, you'll come with me."  
"Okay..." Ron says weakly  
"Elizabeth, Harry, you'll go with Malfoy."

The three students' expressions were different. The Boy-Who-Lived simply nodded. Liz rolled her eyes and the young Malfoy grimaced. He then demanded to have Fang as reassurance, but was disappointed when Hagrid told him he was a "bloody coward". The group split up. Hagrid, Ron and Hermione went right, whereas Harry, Elizabeth and Malfoy went left. The three of them walked for a while in a tense silence. Elizabeth could feel the two boys glaring at each other from either side of her.

"You wait 'til my father hears about this." Malfoy threatened "This is servant stuff."  
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared, Draco." Harry taunted  
"Scared, _Potter_? Yeah, right. Elizabeth's the one who's scared!"  
"Only a little! Excuse me for not being a brave Gryffindor!" Liz complained

Suddenly, Fang began to growl. The three children's attention shifted towards the boar hound. He growled again and the kids looked up in the same direction. In front of them laid a unicorn. Hovering over it was a hooded figure. Said figure raised its head just enough for Harry, Elizabeth and Malfoy to see silver blood running from its mouth. Harry and Liz are frozen in place whereas Malfoy is able to take a few steps back.

"Uh... E-Ella... We s-should go..." Malfoy stuttered  
"Yeah, uh... Harry?" Elizabeth breathed heavily "I'm gonna go... like now. Sorry... I'll bring back Hagrid, I promise!"

Elizabeth, Malfoy and Fang turned around and darted towards anything but that hooded figure. Malfoy, needless to say, was terrified. He was screaming his head off. Elizabeth was scared, but she wasn't as much as the young blonde was. She was more concentrated on getting to Hagrid in one piece. She was concentrated on her feet that slipped outwards on the wet leaves as she rounded each corner. The cold evening air shocking her throat and lungs as she inhaled deeper, faster. With each footfall a jarring pain shot from her ankle to her knee... her ankle to her knee... her ankle to her knee. Liz listened to her heart beat frantically and to the jagged breathing of the boy running beside her. She tried to glance sideways, to make sure he was keeping up with her. But, if she fell, her whole body would pay the price; she was going fast. Faster than she knew her legs could take her. After what seemed like agonizing hours, the duo reached Hagrid, their faces flushed red and their hair stuck to their temples. Ron, Hermione and Hagrid didn't need for them to talk to understand what was happening. Wordlessly, they all rushed back to where Elizabeth and Draco had left Harry. When they reached the clearing, the hooded figure was gone, but Harry was talking to a large creature that Liz immediately recognized. The raven haired boy was talking to a centaur.

"Harry!" Elizabeth and Hermione cried  
"Oh, 'ello there Firenze!" Hagrid said to the centaur "I see you've met our young Mr Potter. You all right there Harry?"

Harry nodded in confirmation.

"Harry Potter this is where I leave you. You're safe now... Good luck." Firenze said

The centaur began to walk away but caught a glimpse of Elizabeth and Malfoy. The two of them were closer than they realized.

"And good luck too you as well, Elizabeth Granger."


	13. Chocolate & End of Term Exams

The walk back to the castle was quiet. Harry seemed deep in thought. What Firenze had to say about Elizabeth had her thinking too; why would she need luck? Did it have to do with what the Mirror of Erised had shown her? What Ellie did not know, was that Firenze was not only paying attention to her, but to Draco Malfoy, who was standing inexplicably close to her. Vague allusions to the future are a centaur's specialty, so Liz could only guess what Firenze meant. This would haunt her for a good part of the year...

Once back inside the school, Hermione, Harry and Ron went up to Gryffindor tower and Elizabeth and Malfoy went down to the dungeons. The two were walking unusually slowly, almost robotically, as if their brains were struggling to tell each foot to take the next step. It was as if they were in a stupor; like a child under hypnosis in one of those muggle Scooby-Doo cartoons. But they weren't. Ella and Draco were frightened. I mean who wouldn't be after that? But for Elizabeth, it was much more than that. She thought she was just good at guessing, but each time her instinct told her something, she would be right. And this time, her gut wasn't saying anything good.

"Ella?" a voice said beside her  
"Yeah?" Elizabeth's almost steady voice replied  
"What's wrong?"  
"Nothing. Just thinking."  
"About?" Malfoy asked  
"That... thing." Ellie shuddered  
"Why would you want to think about that!?"  
"I don't. I just- I have this feeling."  
"Great." Malfoy scoffed "You're one of those."  
"No, I'm serious!" Elizabeth sighed "My gut instinct has never been wrong before. And right now it isn't telling me good things..."  
"What are your intestines chatting about, now?" the boy joked  
"Oh piss off, Malfoy." Liz chuckled "I don't know what my 'intestines are chatting about'... It's just a feeling that I've never felt before, and I really don't like it."  
"What does that feel like?"  
"Kind of like drinking passed due milk, then regretting it later... multiplied by ten, or something like that."  
"Gross, you've drunk past due milk before?" Draco asked, shooting Liz a disgusted look  
"Not on purpose!" she laughed "I forgot to check it and poured some into my tea."

People would think of laughter as a loud, obnoxious sound that seemed to interrupt a conversation. But to Elizabeth, when Draco laughed, it was nothing like that. Of course she knew he would laugh at other people's misery, and that he would often laugh at things he didn't truly find amusing, but when it was genuine laughter, the boy's head would lightly fall forward. A large smile reaching to his cheekbones would draw itself onto his face and his eyes... His eyes would laugh too. They would sparkle and brighten to a colour so rare and so beautiful that even the most experienced painter wouldn't know existed. A pale grey that would scarcely turn a pale shade of blue in correspondence to his mood. His laughter was like ripples in a still pond after a stone had been thrown in. It radiated outwards through the empty halls of the castle. It was so contagious that Elizabeth soon began to chuckle as well, and the ripples of laughter became great waves of mirthfulness. The two laughing Slytherins passed many portraits who seemed more interested in their amusement than what they were supposed to be doing and when they entered the common room, the few Slytherins left awake, for it was at least half past eleven, observed them oddly. Apparently a mudblood and a pureblood weren't permitted to have a laugh together. Draco bid Ella goodnight, who went to her dormitory and most likely woke up Daphne, Rachel and Millicent. If she did, they didn't complain. Elizabeth threw off her clothing, put on her sleepwear and got herself snug and warm underneath her blankets before drifting off into a peaceful sleep. The best sleep she'd had in days.

* * *

It was now the beginning of June. The sun shone down on the castle and through the Black Lake, causing it to turn from the normal pitch black to a deep forest green. The Whomping Willow shook its branches, removing the morning dew from its leaves. Flowers of all colours began to wake and perfume the air with their sweet scent and the owls in the castle's owlery also began to wake by stretching their feathered limbs. Down in the dungeons, Elizabeth was sleeping soundly. A few mermaids passed by the window in her dormitory, gently tapping on the glass to get a rise out of the sleeping children. At the usual seven thirty, the chandelier lit itself and Elizabeth, for once in her life, easily got out of her slumber. She rose quickly. Ellie took a short shower and dressed, then grabbed her potions book before rushing out of the common room and to the Great Hall for breakfast a bit of last minute studying. Today was the beginning of the final exams. For the first two classes it would be her potions final and she did not want to fail. Not that she was going to; it was her best subject.

Elizabeth was the first one at the Slytherin table that morning. Without one complaint about the time, she sat at the end closest to the staff table and grabbed a few scones, tea and several pumpkin pasties. She set them in front of her before opening her textbook and beginning to read about the 12 uses of dragon blood, the forgetfulness potion, the various names of potion ingredients and many other topics she had learnt about this year. Liz took a sip of her tea, added some sugar and sipped again. Biting into a scone, her eyes scanned every inch of each page, memorizing each word and each modification she had made. In a way, she resembled her professor as he too would find better ways of making potions, but she didn't know that... yet.

As the Great Hall was filling up with people, she didn't dare look up at anyone by fear of being distracted and therefore forgetting to study. Eventually, she blocked everything out and stopped noticing the people piling up at the Slytherin table. That was until she felt something cold and sticky on her cheek, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"What the-" she began, her hand automatically reaching for the odd sensation on her face "Chocolate?"

Ellie turned her head and rolled her eyes when she saw Draco Malfoy's classic smirk. The brunette wiped the chocolate off of her face and turned her head back to her book, reached for another scone. She took a bite and rested the back of her hand on her chin, the scone still between her fingers. Elizabeth couldn't concentrate any longer though; she could still feel someone's gaze locked onto her features.

"What?" Elizabeth sighed, her eyes scanning over the 12 Uses of Dragon Blood  
"Good morning." Malfoy said cheerfully  
"I don't think the chocolate was necessary for that."  
"Of course!"  
"Sure, it was." Liz chuckled "Now shush. I've got to remember the Wiggenweld potion properly."  
"Quit stressing. You'll do fine." the blonde said, earning a questioning look from the girl "Here, let me quiz you if you're not sure."  
"Okay, fine."

Draco took Elizabeth's textbook and scanned the pages in search of a proper question. It wasn't an easy task since each page was infested with extra notes and modifications to each potion she had attempted. Confusion and fascination were the two emotions going through his head. What was this, and why was it so amazing? Liz waited expectantly, nervously glancing everywhere but the Gryffindor table; she didn't want to get distracted by either Fred or George's pranks this morning. Little did she know, her sister, Harry and Ron were eyeing her and the young Malfoy suspiciously, not approving of their social interaction.

"Okay, what are the steps to the first year's Wiggenweld potion?"  
"Stop me if I get something wrong... Okay, so, obviously, you start with the base, then add salamander blood until the potion turns red... Uh not a bright red though, kind of like a dark red. Stir clockwise until the potion turns orange. Which is about four times..." Elizabeth said airily, mentioning the modifications she had made "Uh... add more salamander blood, this time until it turns bright yellow then stir clockwise until the potion turns olive green, not lime. Add some more salamander blood, until the potion turns a dark turquoise, kind of like teal and then heat it until it turns indigo."

Liz continued, not noticing Draco's amused face and that most of the first years around her were listening intently. Some of them having forgotten their textbooks, were listening to her knowing that she'd most likely be correct about her answers. Others were simply making sure they had it right and a few others listened and checked their books to make sure she had it right. Obviously, most of them thought she was wrong since she was saying her alterations out loud as well.

"Add more salamander blood until the potion turns a hot pink then heat it gently until the potion turns dark red. After that... Uh, I've got to add five lion-fish spines (preferably one at a time), then heat it until the potion turns yellow... No, not yellow... Uh, ochre! Add five more lion-fish spines (again one at a time). Now I've got to add flobberworm mucus, until the potion turns light purple... Lavender. Stir counter-clockwise until it turns red, then add more flobberworm mucus, this time until it turns burnt orange. Stir twice clockwise and three times counter-clockwise till it turns bright yellow, then shake and add until it turns burnt orange again." Elizabeth paused taking a bite of her scone "Oh yeah, add honeywater until it turns turquoise. Heat until it turns like a... pastel-like pink. And finally add salamander blood until it turns lime green."

Elizabeth came out of her daze and saw that most people in the hall were listening to her recite the steps to the simplified Wiggenweld potion. The older students that were learning the more advanced potion were surprised to hear such an elaborate version of the first year's and said first years were amazed that she even remembered to stir clockwise on the second step. Draco's face was set between fascination and amusement, as Liz didn't believe she was ready to take her test. She looked around at the people who were staring at her and huffed in annoyance.

"Nothing to see here people!" Elizabeth shouted so that everyone could hear her

Immediately, hundreds of heads turned back to their plates and conversations were resumed. Liz took a sip of her tea and gazed at the people at the Slytherin table who were closest to her. Zabini, Daphne, Rachel and Millicent all sat there stunned, their mouths agape and Malfoy smirked at her, handing back the book.

"I think you're ready, Ella." he chuckled  
"You think? Maybe I should review the uses of dragon blood just to-" Elizabeth said worriedly  
"You don't need to, you'll definitely get an 'O' on this."  
"Well then... time for more food!" Ellie said and bit into a pumpkin pasty

* * *

As predicted, Elizabeth had no problems during the end of term exams. Every answer flooded her mind as she stared down at her parchment, performed spells and dropped ingredients into her cauldron. Liz and potions were like peanut butter and chocolate; a perfect match. Unlike her and History of Magic, which were like oil and water. After she had finished writing her exams, she had walked out with Hermione, Harry and Ron. Hermione, like her sister, seemed to be satisfied. Harry and Ron on the other hand, didn't seem so confident.

"I've always heard Hogwarts' end of the year exams were frightful, but I found that rather enjoyable." Elizabeth said, causing her sister to giggle in agreement  
"Speak for yourself." Ron complained "All right there, Harry?"  
"My scar. It keeps burning."  
"It's happened before." Hermione noted  
"Not like this." the glasses-clad boy replied  
"Perhaps you should see the nurse." Liz offered  
"I think it's a warning. It means dangers coming." Harry continues, then, looked up towards Hagrid, at his hut "Oh. Of course!"

Harry dashed towards Hagrid and the three others followed him.

"What is it?" Hermione asked  
"Don't you think it's a bit odd that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger shows up and just happens to have one?" Harry said  
"Harry's right!" Elizabeth exclaimed "I mean, how many people wander around with dragon eggs in their pockets? Why didn't we see it before?" Liz sighed, mentally hitting herself as she came up to Hagrid who was playing the flute "Hagrid, who gave you the dragon egg? What did he look like?"  
"I don't know. I never saw his face." the half-giant replied "He kept his hood up."  
"The stranger, though, you and he must have talked." Harry pried  
"Well, he wanted to know what sort of creatures I looked after. I told him. I said, 'After Fluffy, a dragon's gonna be no problem.'"  
"And did he seem interested in Fluffy?"  
"Well, of course he was interested in Fluffy! How often do you come across a three headed dog, even if you're in the trade?" Hagrid exclaimed "But I told him. I said, 'The trick with any beast is to know how to calm him. Take Fluffy, for example, just play him a bit of music and he falls straight to sleep.'"

Elizabeth and Harry immediately looked at each other, their eyes wide. They then turned to Ron and Hermione whose expressions were identical to theirs. Ignoring Hagrid's mumbling about regretting his decision to tell the kids about this, the quartet ran. They didn't tell each other where they were running to, but Harry, who was in the front, had an idea and lead the way. Eventually, after many odd stares and bumps into random people, the four students made it to Minerva McGonagall's classroom.

"We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!" Harry cried  
"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London." the professor replied  
"He's gone?! Now?" Elizabeth shouted "But this is important! It's about the Philosopher's Stone!"  
"How do you know?" McGonagall gasped, a shocked expression etched onto her sharp features  
"Someone's going to try and steal it!" Hermione added  
"I don't know how you four found out about the stone, but I can assure you it is perfectly well-protected." the professor assured "Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."

The four left the classroom... but they didn't go to their dormitories. They had work to do...


	14. Severus Snape, You Brilliant Man!

Before the next chapter, I just wanted to:

 **1.** Thank yall's for liking what I write  
 **2.** That I love ya

and

 **3.** That I made quite a few modifications to the last chapter. So if you want to check it out, please do.

 **Stay sexy,**  
 **Stark**

* * *

 _Elizabeth and Harry immediately looked at each other, their eyes wide. They then turned to Ron and Hermione whose expressions were identical to theirs. Ignoring Hagrid's mumbling about regretting his decision to tell the kids about this, the quartet ran. They didn't tell each other where they were running to, but Harry, who was in the front, had an idea and lead the way. Eventually, after many odd stares and bumps into random people, the four students made it to Minerva McGonagall's classroom._

 _"We have to see Professor Dumbledore, immediately!" Harry cried_  
 _"I'm afraid Professor Dumbledore is not here. He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and left immediately for London." the professor replied_  
 _"He's gone?! Now?" Elizabeth shouted "But this is important! It's about the Philosopher's Stone!"_  
 _"How do you know?" McGonagall gasped, a shocked expression etched onto her sharp features_  
 _"Someone's going to try and steal it!" Hermione added_  
 _"I don't know how you four found out about the stone, but I can assure you it is perfectly well-protected." the professor assured "Now would you go back to your dormitories? Quietly."_

 _The four left the classroom... but they didn't go to their dormitories. They had work to do..._

* * *

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth ran out into the hallway and in front of the courtyard entrance. The sun was shining through the opening and beaming down on the four friends. Harry stopped and turned to the three others.

"That was no stranger Hagrid met in the village. I think it was Snape, which means he knows how to get past Fluffy."  
"Again, I'm telling you it's not him." Elizabeth sighed, shaking her head  
"You think that for now." Hermione said "And now, with Dumbledore gone-"

Suddenly, Professor Snape appears behind her, making Elizabeth subconsciously stand straighter. He had that effect on people. The dark professor towered above the children and observed each and everyone of them before he settled his gaze on Elizabeth.

"Good afternoon."  
"Good afternoon, Sir." Liz responded automatically  
"Now what would four young students be doing inside... on a day like this?"  
"Uh... we were just-" Hermione began  
"You'll want to be careful. People might think you're..." Snape interrupted, then turned his gaze towards a glaring Harry "up to something..."

With that, Professor Snape turned briskly on his heels and walked away, his ebony robes billowing behind him. Elizabeth nudged Harry in the ribs to stop him from glaring and spoke to her friends.

"Now what do we do?"  
"We go to the trapdoor... Tonight."

* * *

Elizabeth pretended to go to sleep that night. She got underneath her blankets and when she thought her roommates were asleep, she rose and walked out the door. She tip-toed across the common room floor and was about to mutter the password when a clearing throat made her stop in her tracks.

"What do you think you're doing?"  
"Parkinson, I really have no time for this."  
"Sneaking out again?" Pansy scoffed "You've been losing Slytherin a lot of points you filthy little Mudblood."  
"Okay, that's enough." Elizabeth sighed loudly "Petrificus Totalus."

Suddenly, Pansy went as stiff as a board and fell face first onto the floor. Liz smiled in content and towered over Parkinson's stiff figure.

"That's for calling me a Mudblood, Pug-face."

Elizabeth said the password in front of the entrance wall and muttered _Lumos_ as she took out her wand. The young witch quietly walked along the dark tunnels of the damp dungeon, making sure there was no one in sight. She was extra careful when passing in front of Professor Snape's office. The girl walked up the staircase to the entrance and muttered _Nox_ as professor McGonagall passed by. She ducked behind the corner of the wall and waited for the professor to walk past. When she was sure she was gone, Ellie went towards Gryffindor tower and up the staircases where Hermione, Harry and Ron were waiting. They silently entered the third floor corridor and unlocked the door to Fluffy's room, ready to utter a charm to make the harp play. But when they entered...

"Wait a minute... he's-" a large gust of air interrupted Ron "Sleeping?"  
"Someone must have already been here!" Elizabeth noted "They've put a spell on the harp."  
"Ugh, it's got horrible breath."  
"Well spotted, Ronald."  
"We've got to move it's paw!" Harry said  
"What!?" Ron and Elizabeth replied, scared  
"Come on!"

Harry and Hermione both grabbed a part of Fluffy's paw and tried to drag it across the trapdoor without success. The red-haired boy then gave in and began to push as well. Ellie on the other hand wasn't as willing or as brave as her three friends. Gryffindors... However, she managed to overcome her fear and help them move Fluffy's paw which was way easier with her help. With the paw moved, Harry opened the trapdoor and peered inside.

"I'll go first. Don't follow until I give you a sign." the raven-haired boy demanded "If something bad happens, get yourselves out."  
"Hey, guys?" Liz's voice sounded quietly "D-Don't you think it's a bit... quiet?"  
"Ew!" Ron complains from beside her "Yuck... ugh."

Drool had fallen on the boy's shoulder. Ron, Harry, Elizabeth and Hermione all looked at each other, then slowly looked behind them. Fluffy had woken up. His three heads were all growling at the four children and their teeth were bared. The students all screamed and immediately jumped into the trapdoor, landing in something soft. Liz looked around and noticed that they had landed in a black, vine-like plant. Suddenly, it began to move and twist itself around her ankles. It began to tighten and then the vines migrated towards her wrists, her abdomen and soon... her throat. The quartet had landed in Devil's Snare.

"Stop moving, the three of you." Hermione called  
"This is Devil's Snare. You have to relax or it'll only kill you faster."  
"Kill us faster!?" Ron yelled "Oh, now I can relax!"

Both Hermione and Elizabeth rolled their eyes and relaxed (Hermione easier than Liz). Soon, the two sisters fell down to an empty space below them, causing Ron to panic even more. The twins insisted that the boys relaxed, which Harry did and successfully escaped the Devil's Snare, but Ron wasn't showing any signs of calming himself down. He was wriggling and screaming for help.

"Do something!" Harry yelled  
"Uh, I remember reading something in Herbology." Hermione said "' _Devil's Snare, devil's scare. It's deadly fun_...'"  
"' _But will sulk in the sun_!'" Elizabeth completed "That's it! Devil's Snare hates sunlight!"  
" _Lumos Solem_!" Hermione and Liz shouted in unison

A bright white light shot out from the tips of their wands and blasted the Devil's Snare. It gave out a sort of hiss and immediately pulled back from everything it was grabbing, including Ron, who stood up and brushed himself off.

"Well, lucky we didn't panic." he smiled  
"Lucky Hermione and Elizabeth pay attention in Herbology." Harry corrected him  
"Hey..." the latter whispers "Do you hear that?"

The three others shook their heads as Elizabeth continued on. She came to a closed door and pushed it open to reveal hundreds of flying golden "birds". Harry, Ron and Hermione then entered the room behind her and looked at all the flying creatures as well.

"Curious. I've never seen birds like this." Hermione stated  
"That's because they aren't birds, Mione." her twin corrected "They're keys. And I bet one of them opens that door."

Harry's eyes then landed on a floating broomstick in the air.

"What's this all about?" Hermione asks  
"I don't know... Strange." Harry replies

Meawhile, Ron and Elizabeth went over to the door on the other side of the room and tried to pull it open, but it was locked. The both of them then tried to unlock it with a spell, but that wasn't working either. They were stuck in there. They needed an old fashioned key, like the door. Harry spotted one with a broken wing, meaning someone had already grabbed it. That must have been the one. He looked at the broom nervously and placed his hand on it. Immediately, all the keys flew towards him. The glasses-clad boy mounted the broom and zoomed off after the damaged key. He swooped between the rafters and around the posts before he finally caught the key and threw it to Elizabeth. Liz caught it with ease and unlocked the door. She, Hermione and Ron crossed the threshold, leaving the door open for Harry to zoom through and then shut the door behind him, making all the keys thump into it. Harry dismounted and they all walked on, arriving in a large dark room.

"I don't like this... I don't like this at all." Elizabeth said quietly, her eyes darting everywhere  
"Where are we?" Harry asked "A graveyard?"  
"This is no graveyard... It's a chessboard." Ron gasped

The four students walked onto the chessboard and lights immediately illuminated the room. They were standing between chess figures the size of a mountain troll and as dark as Snape's eyes. On the other side, pure white figure stood just as high. On the other side of the room they spotted the door. Elizabeth made a run for it but stopped when the pawns drew their swords and blocked her path. The brunette took a few steps back and stood behind Ron.

"Now what do we do?" she said meekly  
"It's obvious isn't it? We play ourselves across the board." the ginger replied "All right... Harry, Elizabeth, you both take the Bishop's squares. Hermione you take the Queen's side castle. As for me, I'll be a knight."

The four friends took their spots, and the game was now in session. A white pawn slowly moved forward. Hermione asked if it would be like a real game of wizard's chess, and her answer came all too soon and abruptly. One of their black pawns moved forward and they watched it get cut down by the pure white swords of the enemy pawn. The game went on for what seemed like hours. Ron, being the best as wizard's chess, played them through the game calling out the best possible moves for their team. So far, they were winning. But then, Harry realized something as he studied the chessboard.

"Wait a minute..."  
"Now you understand. Right, Harry? Ron asked "Once I make my move, the Queen will take me... then Elizabeth will be free to check the King."  
"No, Ron. No!" Harry and Elizabeth yelled  
"What is it?" Hermione shouted  
"He's going to sacrifice himself!" Liz said "Ugh, I don't understand self-sacrificing Gryffindors!"  
"No, Ron! You can't!" her twin called "There must be another way!"  
"Do you want to stop Snape or not?" Ron asked, causing Ellie to frown "Elizabeth, Harry, it's you that have to go on. Not me, not Hermione. You."

Harry and Elizabeth nodded. Tears threatened to fall from green eyes as Ron muttered his next move. His knight moved slowly to the square he had just dictated and soon enough, the white queen of the enemy's side began to move forward towards Ron. In one swift motion, the Queen unsheathed her sword and pierced the horse's side, making Ron scream and fall to the ground, debris piling up on him. Hermione and Elizabeth screamed and went to run to him, but Harry stopped them and reminded both girls that they were still playing. Now it was Ella's turn. Slowly, with shaky feet, jagged breathing and tears now falling freely from her terrified eyes, the human Bishop walked to the square before the King. It stood at least ten feet tall, it's sword being held between its hands. Ellie looked up at its face.

"Check mate."

Suddenly, with a loud screech, the sword the King was holding fell inches in front of Elizabeth and landed with a ear shattering crash. A loud sigh of relief came out of her mouth. Her knees buckled underneath her and she fell down, holding her head in her hands. She pushed her long chocolate locks back and took a deep and slightly painful breath, letting it back out very slowly. Harry went over to Ron and Hermione, who told him that he and Liz had to go on. Then came back toward Elizabeth and helped her up, walking her into the next room.

Said room was bigger, quieter and darker than all the previous rooms combined. When Harry and Elizabeth set foot past the threshold, the door behind them closed and locked itself with a loud thump. Suddenly, torches on the walls lit themselves starting from the entrance and going along the opposite side of the walls ending at the exit door. In the center of the room stood a table with seven bottles of all different shapes, sizes and colours. Elizabeth took a step forward, immediately knowing this was her kind of challenge. Snape's challenge. She walked up to the table and examined each bottle carefully, without touching. But beside her, Harry had other ideas. He stretched out his hand...

"No! Don't touch!" Elizabeth shouted  
"Why not?"  
"This is definitely Professors Snape's challenge, hence the potion bottles. If you touch anything, we might not be able to complete the task, knowing him."  
"You're on your own for this one, Liz. I'm no good at potions."

Elizabeth chuckled dryly, no humour present in the sound. Her jade green eyes scanned each bottle from left to right. The first was a medium sized, round, clear bottle containing a white substance. The second was a tall, thin, red bottle that sat next to a small, cubic, blue bottle. The fourth and fifth bottles were close from being similar; the fourth being tall and yellow, whereas the fifth was short and green. The sixth potion bottle was dark, almost black, and was tall unlike the pale purple one at the end. At the front of all these bottles laid a scroll of parchment tied with black satin ribbon. Elizabeth gently took the parchment and unwrapped the scroll, reading the text written in neat cursive.

 _ **Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,**_  
 _ **Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,**_  
 _ **One among us seven will let you move ahead,**_  
 _ **Another will transport the drinker back instead,**_  
 _ **Two among our number hold only nettle-wine,**_  
 _ **Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line**_  
 _ **Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore**_  
 _ **To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:**_  
 _ **First, however slyly the poison tries to hide**_  
 _ **You will always find some on nettle wine's left side**_  
 _ **Second, different are those who stand at either end**_  
 _ **But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;**_  
 _ **Third as you see clearly, all are different sizes**_  
 _ **Neither dwarf nor giant hold death in their insides;**_  
 _ **Fourth, the second left and the second on the right**_  
 _ **Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.**_

"Brilliant... this isn't magic. This is logic! A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic." Elizabeth smiled earning her an odd look from Harry "Severus Snape, you brilliant man!"  
"Okay, can we get past your odd fascination with the overgrown bat and get on with it?"  
"Right sorry... but this _is_ brilliant, you know... and he isn't an overgrown bat."

Harry rolled his eyes and Liz looked back at the parchment.

"Okay, so one potion will lead us forward and one will lead us back. Two of these only contain nettle wine and the rest contain poison." Elizabeth summed up  
"Oh yeah, brilliant that man." Harry grumbled "If you think poisoning children is brilliant!"  
"There will always be nettle wine to the left of poison..." Ellie mumbled ignoring his friend "The first and last are out of the question... The tallest and the shortest don't contain poison... The second and sixth contain wine. So the first and fifth contain poison."  
"What?"  
"The potion we're looking for isn't the first, second, fifth, sixth or last one... that leaves three and four..."  
"Just pick one already!" the raven-haired boy shouted  
"Let me do this or I swear to God I will give you poison!" Elizabeth screamed, earning silence on Harry's part

The girl composed herself once again and breathed out, calming her nerves. The raven-haired boy just stood beside her, occasionally pacing out of nervousness.

"The last one will send us back... There are two nettle wines which I've found... three poisons... 'Neither dwarf nor giant hold death in their insides'..."  
"What are you talking about?"  
"The third one. You have to drink the third one."

Elizabeth grabbed the small, blue bottle and offered it to Harry. He gave her a sceptical look, which she returned with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you sure you're not going to poison me?"  
"Positive." Liz reassured him "Now drink all of it, and you'll go on to the last stage. I'll drink the... last one and go back to Hermione and Ron."  
"Wait! You're not coming with me?"  
"No. There's only enough potion for one of us, plus if I drink some after you do it probably won't work."  
"And you're sure that the last one will take you back?" Harry asked as Ellie reached for the round purple bottle  
"No, not really... But it'll either be poison or the potion to take me back." Elizabeth chuckled  
"That is really not helping, Elizabeth!"  
"Sorry... Look, just drink the bloody potion! I'll be fine..."

Harry did as he was told and after commenting on the taste of the potion, which he said tasted like gym socks, black flames engulfed him and he was gone.

"I hope..."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and opened the purple bottle. She grabbed the parchment with the riddle on it, tied it back up and put it in her pocket. The brunette wanted a souvenir of this experience and proof of a wizard's genius to show Hermione. She held the bottle in front of her face and sighed.

"Bottom's up." she said and took a large swig of the thick unknown liquid inside the last bottle


	15. The House Cup

Elizabeth felt numb. Her legs were numb. Her arms were numb. Hell, even her tongue was numb. All she could feel was the soft texture of something underneath her. Probably a bed. Her ears hurt and hummed an incessant buzzing sound. Her eyelids, no matter how hard she tried to open them, wouldn't budge. But through her eyelids, she could see light; a bright light. And shadows moving around, as well. Three to be exact. Suddenly, she felt a tingling sensation in her toes, her fingers. Her eyelids slowly loosened and the humming in her ears ceased. Three muffled voices could be heard and soon, they came into focus.

"D'you reckon she'll wake up soon?" the first said  
"I hope, so! I've got dung bombs for her to hide!" the second insisted  
"I don't think she'll want to hide dung bombs for you, _Weasley_." a third voice countered  
"Would you shut it, Malfoy?" two voices said in unison

Elizabeth groaned, wriggling her toes and flexing her fingers. She stretched out her legs, then the rest of her body before opening her jade green eyes. The light from whatever room she was in blinded her temporarily, which made her wince, but she recovered easily. Enough to sit up and get a good look at who was sitting beside her. Obviously, because he was mentioned, Draco Malfoy sat to the left side of her bed. His grey eyes were slightly widened in anticipation and his face was set in its usual cocky appearance. His blonde hair was slicked back, but a few strands fell out of their place as if he had been running his hands through it incessantly. To the right, two heads of bright red hair caught Ellie's eyes. The Weasley twins, and their two sets of brown eyes were staring at her with wide smiles etched onto their features.

"G'morning Sleeping Beauty." one of the two, said causing Malfoy to scoff "She _is our_ Slytherin Princess, after all."  
"Oh, and I suppose you're my prince, Fred?" Elizabeth croaked, her throat dry  
"It would be an honour, madam!" the ginger replied, standing and giving a mock curtsy "Hey- How'd you know it was me?"  
"Easy."  
"Spill."  
"Nope."

Fred grumbled under his breath making Elizabeth laugh. Draco rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance, crossing his arms over his chest. Obviously, being ignored wasn't part of his plan.

"Hey, Grumpy." the girl teased, her voice still hoarse  
"Don't call me 'Grumpy'." Malfoy growled  
"Fine. Maybe I'll call you Drakey-'  
" _No_! _No_! Anything but that! Grumpy is fine!"  
"Thought so."  
"Ellie, what were you going to call him?" George asked, a smirk tugging at his lips  
"You tell them, you're _dead_ ,Granger."  
"Aw, now that's not very nice, Grumpy." Liz teased "But I did promise... Sorry, G."  
"Come on! You promised _him_!?" the twins chorused, earning them a smirk from the young Malfoy  
"Unfortunately... but hey, at least I can use it as blackmail."

Elizabeth spent the next hour telling the three boys what had happened. Everything from the three-headed dog, to the flying keys; from the giant chessboard to Snape's riddle, proudly admitting she had solved it, and everything in between. But she still had no idea who was really after the Philosopher's Stone. Luckily, the teachers had announced this and the boys could fill her in. Apparently it was poor stuttering Professor Quirrell who was after it. Rumor had it that You-Know-Who was hitching a ride in the back of his head, hence the horrible purple turban.

After a lot of arguing between the Slytherin and the two Gryffindor boys, Madam Pomfrey had ushered them out, insisting that Elizabeth needed rest. Not that she did. After drinking two or three different coloured potions, three glasses of water and a eating few chocolate frogs that Fred and George had brought her, Liz felt she could do the whole thing over again. When the matron wasn't looking, Ellie grabbed her shoes and threw on her sweater, exiting the Hospital Wing at once. She didn't want to stay there any longer than she should have. Upon entering a room in the castle, she spotted to familiar faces talking to each other. Ron and Hermione were safe.

"Hello, this is your captain speaking. Please refrain from flirting and turn around to hug me." Elizabeth said, imitating a voice over a muggle intercom

Ron and her sister turned around and smiled wide. Hermione and Elizabeth ran and embraced each other in a well-deserved hug. Liz didn't normally like hugs, but she thought that she could learn to like them with time if this was going to happen again. The sisters separated and Ellie turned to Ron who was standing to the side, a sheepish look on his face. The brunette rolled her eyes and hugged Ron tight, causing his ears to turn pink.

"I thought you we'd lost you, Ron!"  
"Yeah, me too." the boy chuckled "At least Hermione was there to drag me out of there."  
"Sister, you never cease to amaze me- Hey look, it's Harry!" Liz smiled

Harry stood underneath the balcony the three friends were on. His shirt had holes in it, it had singe marks all over and the boy's face had a few scrapes on it as well.

"All right, Ron?" he asked  
"All right. You?"  
"Okay. Hermione?"  
"Never better." she said with a smile  
"Liz, it looks like you chose the right potion." Harry noted  
"See, I told you I'd be fine."  
" _What potion_? You drank an _unmarked_ potion!?" Hermione panicked  
"Yeah, I'll tell you all about it." Liz smiled proudly, swinging an arm over her sister's shoulder "Even kept the riddle that came with it too. Brilliant it was! Oh by the way, you owe me; it wasn't Professor Snape after all. Told you." she added in a sing-song voice

Harry chuckled as the three descended and walked with him to their common room. Harry, Ron and Hermione all put on their robes and went to the Great Hall, while Elizabeth went down to her common room to put on hers. She came back up and entered the Great Hall. The twins sent her large smiles and waved at her as she made her way to the Slytherin table. Millicent waved her over so she sat in between her and Marcus Flint.

It was officially the end of term and all students were gathered at their house tables, so that the House Cup could be awarded. Elizabeth knew that the Slytherins had gained the most points and lost the least, despite her sneaking around the castle at night along with three Gryffindors. Millicent nudged Ellie, signaling for her to put on her hat and pay attention. Suddenly, as she was taking a sip of pumpkin juice, weight shifted behind her. What was Millicent doing?

" _Malfoy_!?" Elizabeth whispered loudly "You do know that my friend was sitting there!"  
"Who? Bulstrode?" he asked, Liz nodded "Oh, she didn't mind."  
"You are impossible." the brunette growled, earning her a satisfied smirk

Just as the blonde boy was about to add something, Professor McGonagall raised from her seat and tapped her goblet with her spoon, getting everyone's attention. Dumbledore was about to speak.

"Another year gone. And now, as I understand it, the house cup needs awarding, and the points stand thus." _(A/N: I had to modify Ravenclaw's and Slytherin's points because of a certain mudblood, so don't complain that they're wrong... I know... uh, moving on.)_ "In fourth place, Gryffindor with 312 points. Third place, Hufflepuff, with 352 points. In second place, Ravenclaw, with 406 points. And in first place, with 422 points, Slytherin House."

The Slytherin table erupted into cheer. Elizabeth's smile grew and she clapped and cheered along with her fellow housemates. Malfoy's smile was bigger than ever. But just as they thought they had won, Dumbledore hushed them down and continued speaking.

"Yes, well done Slytherin. Well done, Slytherin... However, recent events must be taken into account, and I have a few last minute points I wish to award." the Headmaster said "First, to miss _Elizabeth Granger_ , for pure loyalty and trust, standing by those whom she believes in... I award, fifty points."

All of Slytherin table began to cheer again. Liz's eyes widened before her smile could. She was more surprised than anything really. And as Malfoy and Flint gave her their praises, she looked up at Professor Snape at whom she nodded with respect. The gesture was returned. Somehow he knew...

"Second, to miss _Hermione Granger_ , for use of cool intellect when others were in great peril... fifty points." the Gryffindor table cheered "Third, to Mr _Ronald Weasley_ , for the best played game of Wizard's Chess Hogwarts has ever seen... I award, fifty points."

Elizabeth saw Ron's look of disbelief and chuckled at the sight.

"And fourth, to Mr Harry Potter, for pure nerve and outstanding courage... I award Gryffindor house, sixty points." Dumbledore continues

"We're tied with Gryffindor!" Liz whispered to the blonde boy sitting beside her  
"And finally," the Headmaster said "it takes a great deal of courage to stand up to your enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to your friends. I award ten points... to _Neville Longbottom_. Assuming that my calculations are correct, I believe a change in decoration is in order."

The once green and silver banners that hung over the four tables turned red and gold with a wave of Dumbledore's hand. Gryffindor had won the house cup. The cheers coming from the Gryffindor table erupted like an auditory volcano. It was all quiet one second and then deafening the next. Elizabeth, even though she was disappointed her house didn't win, cheered anyway. At least the house her friends were in had won. Then, all students stood up, took off their hats and threw them into the air in celebration. All except Malfoy who slammed his onto the table in frustration.

"Oh, come on Grumpy." Elizabeth chuckled, sitting back down "Be happy!"  
"Why should I? We lost to those wannabe Slytherins." Malfoy complained  
"I have to admit, they are wannabe Slytherins... But hey, we can kick their arses next next year."  
"Yeah, I guess."

Elizabeth smiled at the frowning boy and got up with the rest of the students and went to their dormitories. Liz took out her trunk that she had hidden underneath her bed. She heaved it onto her bed and began to pile in shirts, pants and socks. Quills, textbooks, her guitar and other equipment were shrunk to fit inside and she changed out of her uniform, putting on something more comfortable for the long train ride back home. Sitting on her trunk to close it, Ellie clasped it shut and jumped off her bed with a sigh. She grabbed Aslan form underneath her bed and placed the reluctant feline into his cage. The brunette apologized to her friend before heaving her trunk off the bed and dragging both the cage and the trunk up the dungeon stairs and into the hall above the staircase leading to Hogsmeade Station.

Elizabeth and Millicent got onto the train and sat in an empty compartment. The two friends talked for a while before Millicent fell asleep and the Weasley twins dragged her out of her compartment. Liz tried to fight them, but it only lead to her being carried over Fred's shoulder. She spent the next five hours playing exploding snap, much to Hermione's dismay, laughing at Ron's face when his mouth was full of sweets and throwing some into each other's mouths from across the benches in the compartment. After a few hours, the friends were tired out and eventually Harry fell asleep with Ron drooling on his shoulder. Fred fell asleep almost immediately after George. Only Elizabeth and Hermione were left awake, but that soon changed as Ellie began nodding off, finally succumbing to her fatigue, her head on Fred's shoulder. Hermione smiled and took out her camera. This was one memory, she'd want to keep forever.


	16. Summer Paradise Ish?

"Elizabeth!"  
" _Be our guest! Be our guest! Put our service to the test. Tie your napkin 'round your neck, Cherie, and we'll provide the rest._ "  
"Liz, be quiet! Mum and Dad are in the next room, you'll wake them!"

Elizabeth and Hermione were on vacation. Mind you, it didn't seem like it since the older twin wasn't free of her loud sister. Said sister was jumping from bed to bed, singing and dancing around the hotel room they were in. The two of them had just finished watching a movie. If you hadn't guessed already, they just finished the latest Disney masterpiece: Beauty and the Beast. Unfortunately for Hermione, she forgot how Liz got when they watched any form of movie with any form of music in it. Elizabeth being, well, Elizabeth, she just had to sing the fastest song in the movie at the top of her lungs... in the middle of the night... in their hotel room... in France...

" _Soupe du jour, hot hors d'oeuvres; why, we only live to serve._ " Elizabeth sang, then pointed dramatically towards her sister " _Try the grey stuff, it's delicious_!"  
"Elizabeth Rose Granger, I will hurt you! It's the middle of the night and I'd like to get some sleep!"  
"Ugh, fine..." Liz groaned, falling face first into her pillow  
"That easy huh?" Hermione questioned, settling into bed "I don't believe it..."

Elizabeth suddenly shot up and stood on her bed, jumping around so she could face her sister. She rose her chin to the ceiling and extended her arms on either side in a dramatic manner.

" _Don't believe me? Ask the dishes_!" Ellie piped up " _They can sing, they can dance! After all, Miss, this is France_!"  
"You are impossible..."

And so, the singing and complaining went on and on and on for a total of about ten seconds... Until the girls' parents came into their room and scolded Elizabeth about a dozen times. When they left, Liz was out cold the second her head touched the pillow. Hermione _however_ , now had the song stuck in her head...

* * *

The rest of their trip was amazing to Hermione, yet uneventful to Elizabeth. Visiting art museums, shopping and cheese tasting were not the former's proverbial 'cup of tea'. But after much convincing and whining and feet stomping and a few well placed cuss words, Ellie got her parents to go to the catacombs underneath Paris. This was the only place in France Elizabeth wanted to go; an illuminated labyrinth in a former limestone mine with millions of ghoulishly arranged skeletons was just the thing the Slytherin wanted. As for Hermione and the folks, let's just say they would have stuck with the cheese tasting and shopping. But for Elizabeth, it was amazing. Ugly yet beautiful. Macabre yet comforting. The stairs down to the catacombs resembled the ones at Hogwarts; dark and dank. Well, the ones to the dungeons anyway. That's probably why the older twin didn't like it. The millions of skulls, often arranged in an artistic manner, added to the gruesome feeling and, for Elizabeth, the familiarity of the place, as the Slytherin common room was decorated with dark skulls as well.

Hogwarts castle, dark and dank dungeons, the Slytherin common room... You get the picture. Elizabeth was in need of some magic. Whether it be the wandless potion-making, the complicated incantations for Transfiguration or the simple act of turning Malfoy's hair a bright shade of pink (she had done this on the train back home; it stayed like that for three hours), she needed it. It was getting so boring at home now that she's experienced the wonders of Hogwarts. At least her one-on-one time with Nota and Hermione were fun and could pass the time quickly. But soon enough, the now second-year witch was getting on her sister's nerves more than usual. Elizabeth would constantly write to the Weasley twins and ask them for odd objects to prank her sister, almost every morning Hermione would be woken up by the sound of Ellie's voice screaming new incantations and spells in the halls of their house, and every free inch of space in their basement was occupied by potion ingredients and equipment or even residues of failed potions that had either over-heated or just plain exploded. The potions that Liz had managed to brew correctly however were hidden in cupboards all around the house and were even found in a few of Hermione's boxes of cereal.

Finally, after was seemed like millennia for both sisters, the girls had received their new supply lists from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With a rather large squeal from Elizabeth, a loud shush from Hermione and an eye-roll from their parents (directed at Liz's squeal), they could now go back to the magic. Diagon Alley was something Elizabeth had missed tremendously.


	17. Gitroy Lockfart

Diagon Alley was the same as it had always been; narrow, colourful and loud. The Grangers got there by car and went to the back of the Leaky Cauldron and entered the Alley through the back exit. Immediately, men, women and children with cloaks that were walking in and out of shops, fell into view. The smell of Fortescue's ice cream floated all the way to Elizabeth's nose and the sound of dozens of owls reached her ears.

Hermione thought it best to go to Gringotts and exchange some money before they went on their shopping spree. The Wizard's bank was large and white. The tall entry way was very crooked but it all straightened itself out once inside. Giant crystal chandeliers hung from the high ceiling and tall counters on either side of a long corridor seated dozens of Goblins, who were silently counting golden Galleons, silver Sickles and bronze Knuts.

Suddenly, amidst the golden decals on the walls, something caught her eye. _Orange_. Normally, she'd walk the other way, because yes, Elizabeth Granger was a little terrified of the colour orange. Not the hair colour, the fruit colour. She knew it was bizarre, but she couldn't help it. When said colour was the hair colour of three of her most favourite people, she'd learn to love it. Fred, George and Ron Weasley stood there in all of their ginger glory. Fred and George had their backs turned, Ron was off to the side pretending to be interested in something his older brother Percy was saying and a young girl was latched onto a plump woman whose hair was the same shade as the man next to her.

"Well if it isn't Thing 1 and Thing 2..." Elizabeth smiled, her hands on her hips

The twins immediately spun around, causing the other redheads to turn as well. Their faces, including Ron's, broke into wide smiles as the the red-haired duo ran towards her.

" _ELLIE_!" they shouted in unison, trapping her in a bone crushing hug  
"Woah!" the Slytherin gasped as Fred hoisted her onto his shoulders "It's good to see you two!"  
"Good!?" they chorused "It's amazing!"  
"Mum! Mum! This is Elizabeth and-"  
"Ah, the nice Slytherin girl Fred and George wouldn't stop talking about?" Mrs Weasley questioned, giving Liz a once over  
"Mum!" the twin boys whined  
"All good things I hope?" the girl chuckled  
"Dear, they even talked about you in their sleep." the woman said, causing Fred's ears to turn pink and George to roll his eyes "And you must be Hermione."  
"It's a pleasure to meet you!" Hermione said happily accepting the warm hug from Mrs Weasley

And so, the new school year started as such. Fred kept insisting that he hadn't dreamt or talked about Elizabeth in his sleep, causing everyone to laugh at him more. George ignored it, and asked whether the jokes and pranking things had worked on Hermione. Ron kept worrying about a lost Harry who had travelled by Floo Powder for the first time, and the adults were set in talking about dentistry, which was the Granger's profession.

Hermione had wandered off somewhere, but quickly returned with a slightly dishevelled Harry Potter. He hadn't grown much, but at least his glasses weren't broken. Elizabeth and Harry exchanged a quick hug after Fred had finally agreed to set her back down. All of them, soon joined by Hagrid, headed towards Flourish and Blotts as Hermione, Mrs Weasley and Ron's younger sister Ginny were all giddy about a famous author. Gilderoy Lockhart. To Elizabeth and most men, he was just some bottle blonde, overly pampered phoney, whose dangerous crusades were no more real than old Saint-Nicholas.

"Oh come on Liz, he's _brilliant_!" Hermione said dreamily  
"Yeah about as brilliant as a stone." Ellie sighed "There are loads of wizards who are way more brilliant than that knob!"

Fred, George, Harry and Ron hummed in agreement.

"Who apart from Dumbledore is more brilliant than that man? And if you say Snape, I will hurt you..."  
"It's _professor_ Snape, by the way." Elizabeth said with an eye roll "And _yes_ , I do think he's much better than Lockhart... But maybe it's a Slytherin thing." she continued, seeing the look on her sister's face

The rather large group of friends and family entered the the bookstore and saw just how crowded it was already. People (mostly women) had flocked into Flourish and Blotts in hopes of getting a glimpse of the famous author. Photographers and journalists were there for numerous magazines and the Daily Prophet, snapping pictures and trying to get an exclusive interview with his over-inflated ego. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her giddy sister and grabbed a new potions book, settling herself near the back just as Harry was spotted and dragged up, by Lockhart, for a photo. Unfortunately for her, she wasn't out of the woods yet. Said wizard noticed that he was being ignored by one person of his target audience.

"My, she's too absorbed in my autobiography 'Magical Me' to even look up at her idol!"

As the crowd hummed a unanimous "aw", and her friends chuckled, the Slytherin girl raised her head and a questioning eyebrow at the man who stood before her. His pearly white teeth, perfectly combed hair and sparkly robes stared at her, as photographers and journalists took in every second.

"Excuse me?"  
"Oh, she's even speechless!" a reporter giggled  
"Three things, people." Elizabeth said sternly

She heard Hermione say: "Uh oh."

" _One_ , I am _not_ speechless as you can hopefully tell. Unless you're all too stupid. _Two_ , this is a _potions_ _book_." she continued, raising her book so people could see the cover "And _three_ , you are definitely _not_ my idol, you... _Pompous_... _Bozo_..."

The look on Lockhart's face made Elizabeth smirk in victory as she rose from her seat and strode away, her head held high. Reporters and photographers were gasping and writing, fans were glaring and her friends were trying to contain their laughter. This would be featured in the Daily Prophet the next day, of course. Front page actually. Liz purchased all her books, which unfortunately included the works of _Gitroy Lockfart_ , and waited for her friends at the exit.

"Bet you loved that, didn't you, _Potter_? At least Ella had the sense to turn him down." Elizabeth heard a very familiar voice say "But you... Famous Harry Potter can't even go into a bookstore without making the front page."  
"Leave him alone!" she heard Ginny shout as she tried to push her way through the crowd of people  
"Look Potter. You've got yourself a girlfriend!"  
"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ellie growled, reaching the young blonde  
"Ella! Good to see you!" Draco smiled  
"Unfortunately the feeling _isn't_ mutual."

Draco's smile faltered. Insulting Elizabeth's friends wasn't the greatest way to start the year and a possible new friendship. As the young Malfoy opened his mouth to counter, a low voice silenced him. A tall, pale, blonde and stern looking man appeared beside him.

"Ah... Mr Potter. I don't believe we've met. Lucius Malfoy."

Mr Malfoy extended his hand, as if offering to shake Harry's. But instead gently played his pale fingers over the fringe of his scalp, revealing the famous lightning bolt scar. At his touch, Harry withdrew slightly and Elizabeth kept an eye on the man.

"Forgive me, Mr Potter. But your scar is legend. As, of course, the wizard who gave it to you."  
"He was a murderer." the raven-haired boy said simply  
"Yes, a pity about your parents. Curious that you yourself should escape with a mere flesh wound." Lucius Malfoy said dangerously low "Curious, too, that you speak about him in the past. Surely you don't think He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is gone forever."  
"His name is _Voldemort_." Harry stated bravely

Those within earshot gasped as Harry uttered his name. No one ever said it. Even Elizabeth flinched at the word, and she was probably the bravest Slytherin at Hogwarts.

"You must be very brave to speak his name... Or foolish."  
"Fear of the name only increases fear in the thing itself." Elizabeth said defiantly, then regretting it immediately

Mr Malfoy's eyes slid towards the Granger twins, specifically the one who had spoken. Liz was glaring at him, trying to not appear nervous, whereas Hermione visibly tried to avoid his gaze as best as possible.

"You must be Elizabeth. Draco speaks highly of you, even though your parents are... muggles." the man sneers, barely containing his distaste  
"Yes, a Mudblood Slytherin, how _horrible_!" Ellie said sarcastically  
"Do you always refer to yourself as such?" Mr Malfoy said, slightly taken aback  
"Yeah, so people like _you_ don't say it behind my back."

Lucius and Elizabeth spent the next few seconds glaring intensely at each other. Their newly discovered distaste for each other very apparent. So apparent in fact, that it took a frantic Mr Weasley to break the tension. The man hurried beside them, gasping for air.

"Kids! It's _mad_ in there! Let's go outside."  
"Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley." Mr Malfoy sneered, his gaze flickering over to Weasley senior  
"Lucius." he says stiffly  
"Busy time at the ministry. All those raids. I hope they're paying you overtime."

The tall pale man reached into Ginny Weasley's cauldron, which held all her books, and pulled out an old battered copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration_. He made a face resembling both a sneer and a scowl.

"Obviously not. Dear me. What's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"  
"We have a very different idea about what disgraces the name of wizard, Lucius."  
" _Clearly_." Mr Malfoy said, glancing down at Elizabeth and Hermione "The company you keep, Weasley. And I thought your family could sink no lower."

Mr Weasley and Elizabeth had to be held back by Hagrid if Lucius Malfoy didn't want to be punched in the face, or worse, hexed. The both of them lunged forward to do so, but Hagrid restrained them. How dare he insult the Weasleys? How dare he insult her family? And right in front of her too! It was _that man_ who was the disgrace. Fuming, Liz looked over towards Draco, who until now had been silent, hoping for him to not have some sort of satisfied smirk on his face. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's wish would not come true. The boy stood slightly behind his towering father with a satisfied look on his face, directed towards Ron. However, his expression changed when he looked over at Elizabeth. His smirk faltered and was replaced with an embarrassed look. He tried to mouth an apology to her, but she wasn't having any of it. Ellie shook herself out of Hagrid's grip and glared at Draco, making his face fall, disappointed.

"Here girl. Take your book. It's the best your father can give you."

Mr Malfoy slipped Ginny's book back into her cauldron... along with something else? Or so Elizabeth thought. Maybe she was just seeing things, a trick of the light. She shrugged it off and turned her gaze away from it. Hagrid kept insisting that the whole Malfoy family was rotten to the core, and she'd admit that about Lucius Malfoy. But as the two blondes left, and Ella watched Draco leave, she couldn't help but feel bad for him. He was the one who had to live with that monster of a man every single day...


	18. Mandrake Bites

The trip to Hogwarts, like the previous year, was amazing. Once again, Elizabeth sat between Fred and George. Across from them was their sister Ginny, whom she learned was a huge fan of Harry Potter, and her sister who as usual had her nose glued in a book. The Weasley twins and Elizabeth played exploding snap, a few games of wizard chess that George won, laughed at what Elizabeth had said to one Lucius Malfoy in Diagon Alley and, of course, ate way too many sweets. Sweets ranging from blood lollipops, to licorice wands, and to cockroach clusters that were purchased off the trolley. Hermione and Ginny would constantly look up from their books and roll their eyes. Ginny at her brothers and Hermione at her sister, as the three of them stuffed and threw more sugary treats into their mouths.

But among all the giddiness and excitement over Hogwarts and the start of term was a underlying sense of worry. Hermione had expressed her concerns quite early. Ron and Harry were missing. The young witch searched every inch of the Hogwarts Express. Even the teacher's compartment where she had an uncomfortable staring contest with professor Snape. Upon returning to her compartment, Hermione seriously began to worry. But her more carefree sister Elizabeth did not share the same feelings... On the outside. She told her twin not to worry and that the boys would be fine. Of course, Hermione didn't believe a single word and neither did Ellie. She thought that those two boys could rival Fred and George when it came to being irresponsible. God knows what they'd done this time.

Harry and Ron were also missing during the sorting and the feast. Elizabeth separated from Fred, George and her sister upon entering the Great Hall which was decorated with the same floating candles and shining golden plates. The Jade eyed girl made her way towards the Slytherin table and was greeted by the Quidditch Captain, Marcus Flint, who was supposed to graduate last year, Millicent Bulstrode's happy pudgy face, a few disgusted looks from Parkinson and her crew, as well as a curt nod from her favourite professor as she sat down between Millicent and Flint. And like the previous year, Millicent was squashed away by the same blond kid that had done it already.

"Now what?" the young witch said impatiently  
"Hello." Malfoy replied with a smug smile  
" _Goodbye_." Liz said, stabbing a piece of roast chicken  
"Look, What happened in Diagon A-"  
"I _don't_ want to talk about it."  
"Why not?"  
"Are you shitting me!? 'Why not?' I'll tell you ' _why not_ '." Elizabeth whispered loudly, causing a few heads to turn their way "One, you come around and start insulting my friends all by your onesie. But then, the all great and powerful daddy Malfoy joins in and makes it _worse_ by insulting not only my friends, but me and my family! No one insults my family, _especially right in front of my fucking face_!"  
"Aw, would you look at that... Malfoy and the Mudblood are having a little domestic."

Both Elizabeth and Draco turned to the voice with stern faces.

"Shut your mouth Zabini or I'll shut it for you." Liz warned  
"Oh, I'm so scared!" the boy replied sarcastically, making Pansy Parkinson snort with laughter  
"You should be... I can do wonders with an _Affligo_ jinx."

Malfoy and the others looked at her confused.

"Nice try. But even _fifth years_ can't preform that jinx." Blaise huffed  
"I'm the smartest student in our year, probably the school, along with my sister. Do you _really_ want to test me, Zabini?"  
"You'd lose us points and get detention for like... _a week_!"  
"It would be worth it." Elizabeth said darkly, her hand itching for her wand

Zabini backed off, visibly scared that Ellie was genuinely going to hex him. Which she would have done had he not shut up. How could she have been friends with that prat? The witch looked back at her food and stabbed a potato, suddenly (and surprisingly) not interested in it. She pushed her plate away, ignoring the smug look on Zabini's face as well as all the other shocked ones. Elizabeth was known for her abnormal appetite and never refused food.

"You're not going to eat?" Malfoy asked, stunned, still sitting quietly next to her  
"Not hungry." Ella replied as the dessert plates appeared on the table "Oh, but pudding..."  
"You? Refusing food?" Millicent said from behind Draco  
"Apparently..."

The witch continued to stare at the large array of sweet desserts in front of her, not touching anything or even raising her head when Harry and Ron finally walked into the Great Hall alongside Dumbledore. She was mad. Mad at Blaise for being a giant git. Mad at Mr. Malfoy for insulting her family and friends. Even mad at Draco for bringing up the problem in the first place. Those three, Mr. Malfoy included, needed to learn some manners or at least to shut their mouths. Elizabeth, after ignoring her food and the rude comments coming from Pug-Face Parkinson, went to bed angry and hungry. Not a winning combination for her first day back at Hogwarts.

Ella woke the next morning in an empty dorm with an aching stomach and head. She needed food, but she didn't want it. Silly, but she was still mad. Mostly at herself this time, even though she didn't know why she was mad at herself. After dealing with her pounding headache, the brunette slid on her uniform and went to the Great Hall for breakfast. She opted for a simple cup of tea. As the rest of the students entered the Hall, Elizabeth finished her cuppa and went back to her dorm to grab her books, avoiding as many people as possible. Now at her first class of the year, Elizabeth sat towards the back of the Greenhouse and waited for her classmates to join her, hoping that Millicent would sit next to her. Unfortunately, Malfoy took that spot.

"Really!? Can't you tell I'm _not_ in the mood to deal with you right now?"  
"Fine. I was going to be nice for a change, but I guess you're not in the mood for that either." Malfoy snapped, turning his back to her  
"Ugh... Sorry, sorry." Ellie sighed, running her hands over her face "I'm just... Nevermind."

Draco turned back to Elizabeth, slowly. Had her hands not been in front of her face, she would have noticed the boy's annoyed face slowly melt into worry. Liz removed her hands from her face and ran her fingers through her hair. Well, tried to anyway. That morning, Ellie had braided her hair, so her fingers got stuck in her hair. She cursed quietly and angrily tore the hair tie out of her dark locks, throwing it onto her work table. That earned her strange looks from a few students, but mainly her sister, Ron and Harry who were sitting across the room. Suddenly, a low rumbling sound was heard making Elizabeth chuckle shyly.

"Sorry... I didn't eat this morning..." Ella said sheepishly  
"Here."

Out of his bag, Draco Malfoy pulled out a green apple and placed it front of his desk partner. The girl looked up, her eyebrows instantly furrowing in confusion. The blond simply shrugged and leaned back in his seat. Elizabeth mumbled a thanks and eagerly bit into the fruit. He had brought an apple... for her? No. He planned on eating it later. Still, he gave it up for a Mudblood who just yelled at him. Maybe there _was_ room for improvement. Just then, Professor Sprout entered the room.

"Welcome to Greenhouse Three, Second Years." the woman said cheerily "Today, we will be re-potting Mandrakes. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake? Yes, Miss Granger." the professor stated, looking over to Hermione  
"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is used to return those who have been transfigured to their original state." the girl stated expertly "It's also quite dangerous... The Mandrake's cry is fatal to anyone who hears it."  
"Wait until my father hears about this... Making students play with deadly things." Malfoy whispered to Elizabeth  
" _Shut up and listen_." came her reply

He huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Excellent! Ten points to Gryffindor! Now, as our Mandrakes are only seedlings, theirs cries won't kill yet." Sprout continued  
"See?" Liz smirked  
"Shut up." Draco said, annoyed  
"Mudblood '1'. Malfoy '0'."  
"We are not keeping score."  
"Scared, Malfoy?"  
"What? No." the boy defended  
"Fine. We keep score, then." Liz said with a smug look on her face  
"However, they will knock you out for several hours." the teacher said, oblivious to Ella and Draco's bickering "Which is why I have provided each of you with a pair of earmuffs. Well, if you would then..."

The whole class put their earmuffs on, Elizabeth stealing Draco's green ones and giving him her white ones. The teacher then lead the students towards the Garden Area. She stood at the front of the class and grasped the tufty plant before her, pulling it out to demonstrate. Students gasped. Ellie recoiled and scrunged her nose. Instead of roots, a small, muddy and extremely ugly baby popped out of the earth, leaves growing straight out of its head. The woman then plunged it deep into a pot and covered it with dirt. As soon as all the earmuffs were off each student's ears, a loud thump was heard at one end of the classroom.

"Looks like Longbottom's fainted again." Elizabeth sighed  
"Very well. We'll just leave him there. Come now, two for a tray. Plenty of pots to go around."

Once again, Draco and Ella were paired up. The witch let her partner take out the Mandrake as she prepared the transplanting pot. The blond pulled the plant out and stared at it for a few seconds before aiming his fingers towards the thing's mouth. Ellie was to late to stop Malfoy from getting his fingers bitten by the seedling. And instead of helping him get un-stuck, she did the most Elizabeth-y thing. While the young wizard was struggling to get free, cursing profusely, Liz was clutching her sides in laughter, tears welling in her eyes. Little did she know, her trio of friends were watching her and definitely disapproving of this interaction. Why was she talking to their sworn enemy? They were definitely going to confront her about this...


	19. Ink

A long morning of laughter, pained fingers and angry stares in Greenhouse Three soon came to an end with the sound of a bell. It was now time for a well deserved lunch break. She had promised Fred and George that she'd sit and eat with them, but that wasn't on her mind right now. At the moment, Elizabeth was surprisingly walking out of the Greenhouse and into the castle alongside Draco Malfoy. It was surprising because he was her sister's mortal enemy, because Liz was a 'filthy little Mudblood', but mostly because they'd usually be at each other's throats. The confusion as to why these two were laughing together again was apparent on everyone's faces. As much the Slytherins, as the Gryffindors that were exiting the Greenhouse. But it was especially apparent on the faces of Ron, Hermione and Harry.

"Why'd you stick your hand in there a second time?" Ella laughed at Draco "Do you _want_ to lose your fingers?"  
"I didn't do it on purpose the second time!" the boy argued "My hand just got too close. Or maybe that thing was out to get me!"  
"Right, because baby Mandrakes have a history of eating little Malfoy fingers..."  
"Well, maybe!"  
"No, they don- _HEY_!"

Suddenly, Elizabeth's arm was seized and she was suddenly dragged forward to the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

"Hey! I was talking!" the brunette shouted at no one in particular  
"With _Malfoy_?" she recognized Harry's voice  
"Yes, with Malfoy. Problem?"  
"Of course there's a problem!" Ron added "Why him?"  
"He was being a dork, I laughed. Conversation started." Elizabeth shrugged, taking a seat in between the Weasley twins  
"Lizzie, he's bad news." Hermione sarted  
"That's what Mum and Dad say about me sometimes..."  
"But that's _different_! Malfoy-"  
"Leave the girl alone." Fred interrupted  
"Ellie can talk to whoever she wants." George continued  
" _Even if he's a prat_!" they said in unison  
"Thanks... I think." Elizabeth chuckled  
"You're welcome, Ellie!" the twins chorused

Suddenly, a bright light went off close to them. Ron, Harry and both sets of twins were instantly blinded for a few seconds, and blinked rapidly to get the spots out of their vision. A boy stood before them, a camera held tightly in his grip. Said boy was called Colin Creevy, a first year Gryffindor who was already getting on Elizabeth's nerves. Especially since he'd keep insisting for a photo with ' _the only Muggle-Born Slytherin at Hogwarts_ '. Luckily for her, just then, owls streamed into the Great Hall. One after the other, the birds swooped down gracefully, clutching letters from home. All except one, who plopped beak-first into Ron's soup. Errol.

"Bloody bird's a menace." Ron sighed "Oh, no..."  
"Heads up, everyone!" the Irish wizard, Seamus Finnegan, shouted "Weasley's gotten himself a Howler!"  
"Go on, Ron." Neville said meekly "I ignored one from my Gran once... it was horrible."

Ella looked over at the Weasley boy. His face was livid, void of colour. Clutched in Errol's beak was a damp red envelope. Hands shaking, he took it, opened it, and Mrs. Weasley's voice thundered through the Great Hall, making plates rattle and students go silent.

" _RONALD WEASLEY! HOW DARE YOU STEAL THAT CAR! I AM ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTED! YOUR FATHER'S NOW FACING AN INQUIRY AT WORK AND IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT! IF YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!_ " softening suddenly, the voice continued "Oh, and Ginny dear. Congratulations on making Gryffindor. Your father and I are so proud."

Ginny, sitting a bit apart from the others, looked up shyly, then returned to the small black book she was scribbling in. All the students watched as the envelope ripped itself to pieces and burst into flames. Howls of laughter exploded from the other house tables, especially the Slytherin table, as Colin Creevy snapped a few more photos.

"Look at it this way..." Harry said "How much worse can things get?"

And my... did things get worse. Especially Defense Against the Dark Arts, where _Gitroy Lockfart_ was supposed to be teaching. Elizabeth sat at the front, only because it was the only available spot. Not many Slytherins wanted to be near him. The young witch slouched in her seat and crossed her arms, clearly not interested in what the idiot in front of her was saying. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Malfoy with an amused smirk on his face. Whether he was laughing at her for being stuck in front or at Lockhart for trying to get her attention, Liz sent Draco a dirty look to which he chuckled. She rolled her eyes and turned back to lazily play with her quill, ignoring her professor.

"Let me introduce you to your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher... _Me_! Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, honorary member of the Dark Force Defense League and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile-Award. But I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!" the smiled brightly, expecting laughter

Elizabeth made a gagging motion, causing her fellow Slytherins to have to withhold their laughter.

"I see you've all bought a complete set of my published works."  
"Not like we had a choice..." Liz muttered  
"Well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about. Just to check how well you've read them... How much you've taken in."

Lockhart began to circulate papers. As one of them landed on her desk, Elizabeth began to read the absurd questions. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favourite colour? What do you think is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement is to date? When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday and what would be his ideal gift? This can't be it... Seriously?

" _What is this shit_?" Ella expressed louder than she'd have liked  
"Language, Miss Granger. Five points from Slytherin."

A unanimous sigh came from her housemates, and a few Gryffindors chuckled. Liz rolled her eyes and grabbed her quill. All of a sudden, quills began to dart across pages. But the Muggle-Born Slytherin had no intention of either hurrying or answering correctly, even if she did know all the answers to the questions. Instead, she pretended as if she were describing herself... with a few humorous exceptions, of course.

* * *

The half-hour passed by slowly, and the... professor retrieved all the papers, beginning his grading. He frowned at a few, namely Elizabeth's, but beamed at others, namely Hermione's. When he had finished, the bottle-blond man stood in front of the class, rifling through papers.

"Tut, tut... Hardly any of you remembered my favourite colour is lilac. And no, Miss Elizabeth Granger, my ideal gift is not, and I quote: ' _A kick in the arse_.'" Lockhart said, causing Ellie to smile and her housemates to laugh "Also, I do not brush my teeth with Flobberworm mucus to get this... _Dazzling_ smile. However, your sister knew that my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair care potions. Good girl."

Elizabeth looked over and rolled her eyes at her beaming sister. How could she find this phony amazing, and not let her talk to Malfoy? Sometimes, Liz didn't understand her sister. She looked back to the supposed professor, whose expression had suddenly darkened.

"Now... Be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind!"  
"He should include himself in there..." Ella mumbled, unaware that Malfoy heard her and smiled  
"You may find yourself facing your worst fears in this very room... Know only that no harm can befall you whilst I am here."

With a showman's flair, Lockhart turned to a rattling cage, draped with a dark cloth. Elizabeth, suddenly interested, leaned forward and stared at the cage. Maybe this class could finally get interesting. The teacher let the tension build dramatically, then whipped off the cover. Inside were dozens of electric blue creatures. Eight inches tall, with pointed faces and wings, they rattled the bars of the cage and pulled bizarre faces at the students.

"Cornish Pixies?" Seamus called  
" _Freshly caught_ Cornish Pixies." Lockhart corrected, causing the boy to snort with laughter "Laugh if you will Mr. Finnegan, but Pixies can be devilishly tricky little blighters. Let's see what you make of them, now!"

Suddenly, as if the man couldn't get any more idiotic, Lockhart flung the cage door open. Instantly, the Pixies rocketed about, spraying the students with ink bottles, pulling the girl's hair, breaking beakers and shredding many copies of Gilderoy Lockhart's books. Ella let out a small squeal and ducked underneath her desk just as Neville got picked up by a few Pixies and began to swing him around.

"Come on now, round them up! They're only Pixies." the overly-confident professor said, raising his wand " _Peskipisky Pesternomi_!"

The spell had absolutely no effect. A particularly cheeky and obnoxious Pixie pulled a face, seized Lockhart's wand and threw it out the window. The now panicked man joined the stampede to the door. Elizabeth came out of her hiding spot and joined Ron, Harry and her sister, swatting a blue creature out of her bushy brown hair.

"I'll ask the four of you to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." the professor said before disappearing into the next room and shutting the door

The four friends stood there blinking. Did he really just leave them? With dozens of Cornish Pixies? Ron swatted a Pixie gnawing at his ear, just before Elizabeth spoke with her usual tone.

" _Fucking idiot_!"  
"What do we do now?" Ronald asked  
"The obvious!" Hermione said, then shouted " _IMMOBILUS_!"

The young witch pointed her wand to the ceiling and instantly, all the flying Pixies froze in midair. They stopped swinging Neville who consequently fell onto the chandelier in the middle of the room and hung there, muttering something about him always being a target. Ellie helped him down using her well-practiced levitation charm and went back to her desk to get what was left of her Gilderoy Lockhart book collection.

"Hey Ella!"

At the sound of Draco's voice, Elizabeth ignored her sister's looks and turned towards him. She could very well talk to whoever she wanted to. Whether her sister liked it or not, she'd do whatever she wanted.

"What's up?" Liz asked  
"Come here."

After a quick glance back to the boys and Hemione, who were all shaking their heads in denial, Elizabeth sighed and rolled her eyes before walking over to Malfoy who was also picking up what was left of Lockhart's autobiography, 'Magical Me'.

"You called, _Your Highness_?" the witch joked  
"Yes, I did." Malfoy smirked "Look at me."

Elizabeth knitted her eyebrows, but complied. Why would Draco Malfoy call Elizabeth Granger over to just look at him? Actually, that sounded just like him. Arrogant bastard... But that wasn't it. The young blond simply licked the pad of his thumb and ran it across Ella's cheek, causing her to blush ever-so-slightly. If it was ever mentioned, she'd deny it.

"You had ink on your face." Malfoy said with a slight chuckle, seeing the dusting of pink on her cheeks  
"Oh, uh... Thanks. I think." she replied, trying hard to act as if she wasn't shy about this  
"Come on, Lizzie." Hermione said, dragging her sister away from the Slytherin boy  
"Oi! Granger, I'm talking here!" he called as Elizabeth tried to send him an apologetic look  
"Oh, what now!?" she asked as they reached the hallway with Harry and Ron  
"You've been getting _way too cozy_ with Malfoy today." Harry said sternly  
"He just wiped some ink off my face! _Big deal_!"  
"With his thumb! And his saliva! That's like a- a- a kiss on the cheek or something!" the ginger-haired boy said dramatically  
"Ron, you're twelve. I'm twelve. Malfoy's twelve. Calm down. You're the only one thinking like that right know." Elizabeth sighed  
"Tell that to the blush on your cheeks." Hermione mumbled  
"I did _not_ blush!" Liz defended "Whatever. Can we just deal with the fact that Lockhart is a _giant git_?"  
"Yeah, can you believe him!?" Ron gasped, forgetting about the Ella and Draco problem  
"Look, I'm sure professor Lockhart just wanted to give us some hands on experience." Mione reasoned  
"Hands on? Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he was doing!" Harry argued  
" _Rubbish_! Read his books. You'll see all the amazing things he's done."

Elizabeth snorted.

"Yeah, what _he_ said he's done."


	20. Mudblood

Damn History of Magic. A foot of parchment on the _Warlock's Convention of 1907_? No thank you. Elizabeth would rather spend an afternoon getting judged by Blaise Zabini than be stuck with remembering dates, events of great importance and the many Goblin wars of the wizarding world. Ideally, she'd spend a day in the dungeons as she hovered over a steaming cauldron, but you couldn't always get what you wanted. So instead of being outside and enjoying the wonderful weekend, Ellie was in the library writing about the outlawing artificial dragon breeding. Luckily, her homework was interrupted by a rather excited Draco Malfoy, which was rather unusual. He was rarely ever seen within five feet of a bookcase, much less the actual library.

"Ella, come on!"  
"Quiet, there!" Madam Pince shushed  
"Old bat." Malfoy whispered "Come on, we're going to be late."  
"Late for _what_? I'm meeting my sister here to study." Liz said "Look there she is."  
"Hey, Lizzie- Oh, what is _he_ doing here?" Hermione said, crossing her arms  
"I'm dragging her to Quidditch practice because she's going to be late." the blond said snidely  
"Oh _shit_! I forgot!" Elizabeth gasped, shoving her books into her leather bag "Sorry, Mione! I've got to practice! I'll see you later!"  
"Yeah... See you later. I was going to go see Ron anyway." the older twin sighed as her sister and her enemy ran off  
"No running in the library!" Madam Pince told the two 'friends'  
" _Shut it_!"

* * *

The Slytherin team made their way across the Quidditch pitch. Marcus Flint lead the way, followed by Elizabeth and the rest of the team, clad in their silver and green uniforms. On the other side, Liz could spot familiar faces clad in gold and red. The Gryffindor Quidditch Team. Obviously, upon meeting each other half way, Flint and Oliver Wood, both team captains, were at each other's throats.

"Clear out, Flint! I booked the Quidditch pitch for today!" Wood called as he reached the Slytherins

Elizabeth placed herself to Flint's right, her eyes able to see the stands and Hermione and Ron running down to the pitch to join them, obviously worried about what could happen.

"Easy, Wood. I've got a note."

Oliver snatched the note from Marcus' hand and began to read aloud just as Hermione and Ron appeared beside Harry.

"' _I, professor Severus Snape, do hereby give the Slytherin_ _team permission to practice today, owing to the need to train their new seeker_.' You've got a new seeker?" Wood cut himself off "Who?"

Out from the back came none other than Draco Malfoy, clad in the same green and silver Quidditch outfit as his teammates. He stood proudly next to Elizabeth who smiled at him, causing Harry to grit his teeth.

"Malfoy?" he questioned, not believing his eyes  
"That's right. And that's not all that's new this year..."

As one, the whole green clad Quidditch team hold out seven new and gleaming dark wood broomsticks. The Gryffindors' faces immediately showed their surprise, and the smug look on the Slytherin's faces showed their pride; the Slytherin pride they were known for. Hermione and Ron's gazes immediately fell upon Elizabeth, who they thought wouldn't look as smug as the rest of the boys in the team. But they were wrong. After all Elizabeth _was_ proud, and a Slytherin. Why wouldn't she be happy about about showing off her new broom even if it came from a large git?

"Those are Nimbus 2001's!" Ron gasped at the sight of the dark brooms  
"A generous gift from Draco's father." Flint smirked  
"That's right, Weasley. You see, unlike some, _my father_ can afford the best." Malfoy said, earning him a glare from Elizabeth  
"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to _buy_ their way in." Hermione said snidely "They all got in on pure talent."  
"Hey! I saw him try out, Hermione!" Elizabeth said, hurt at her choice of words "Malfoy got in fair and square believe it or not!"  
"Yeah, no one asked for your opinion you filthy little mudblood."

Everyone, save Harry, who only seemed confused, reacted at Draco's words. Even Elizabeth who had just defended him, wanted to punch him as much as Fred and George who had launched themselves towards him. The Weasley twins were held back by Oliver Wood. Elizabeth was held back by probably the nicest Slytherin, Adrian Pucey.

"Save it for the match." Wood said to Fred and George  
"You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" Ron yelled as he whipped out his wand " _EAT SLUGS_!"

Ron pointed his cracked wand at the young blond, and Elizabeth just knew his spell was going to backfire. How could it not with a wand like that? Suddenly, a bolt of bright green light scissored out the wrong end of his wand and hit Ron square in the chest. As he dropped to the grass, Hermione ran to him, and so did Elizabeth, but she was held back by the fourth year again. He shook his head.

"Don't get into this. It'll just get messier."

Elizabeth nodded and turned her gaze back to her friends. Ron slowly sat up and belched. Hermione draws back and watched a trio of slugs dribble out his mouth. The Slytherin team, excluding Elizabeth, crowed with laughter. Angrily, Ron rose, only to belch again. Fascinated, the annoying Colin Creevy, came up with his camera.

"Wow! Can you hold him still, Harry?"  
"Out of the way, Colin!" the raven-haired boys shouted, annoyed "Let's get him to Hagrid. He'll know what to do."

With that, Harry and Hermione shot an accusing glance towards Elizabeth. That made her angry. Why were they blaming her? Malfoy started this! And as her three friends walked away and the Gryffindors and Slytherins kept arguing, Ellie turned around to face Malfoy. Before he could speak, Liz's fist collided with his jaw. His face twisted and he stumbled back, being caught by Flint who wore the same stunned expression as the rest of the students on the pitch. The Gryffindors, especially Fred and George, looked particularly amused.

"Don't you dare... talk to my sister like that... ever." the brunette said dangerously low  
"Ella-"  
"SHUT IT, YOU PRAT!" Elizabeth interrupted "I DON'T WANT TO _FUCKING_ HEAR IT!"

Elizabeth turned on her heels and shoved through the team of Gryffindors, but stopped once she reached the other side of them.

"And don't you _ever_ call me Ella, again."

* * *

Harry and Hermione carried a slug-vomiting Ronald down to Hagrid's hut. The half-giant would know what to do. Hopefully. The three friends knocked on the hut's door and Hagrid, wearing his usual moleskin coat, greeted them with a confused face but quickly realized what was happening when Ron threw up a slug on the doorstep. Hagrid rummaged through his things.

"Got jus' the thing. Set 'im down on that chair o'er there."

As Ron sat, Hagrid threw a bucket between his knees. Harry and Hermione glanced up questioningly. The half-giant merely shrugged.

"Better out than in. Who was he tryin' ter curse anyway?"  
"Malfoy. He called Hermione, well, I don't know what it means exactly..." Harry said  
"He called me a Mudblood." Hermione said quietly  
"He didn't!"

Suddenly, the door to Hagrid's hut slammed open and a visibly angered Elizabeth stormed in.

"Yes he did. And he got a punch in the face for it."  
"From who?" Harry asked as Ron belched again  
" _Me_."

A unanimous 'oh' echoed in the hut, as Elizabeth took a seat next to Harry.

"What does Mudblood mean anyway?"  
"It means dirty blood." the older twin said, pained "Mudblood is a really foul name for someone who was Muggle-born. Someone with non-magic parents. Someone... like me and Liz. It's not a term one usually hears in civilized conversation."  
"Yeh see, Harry. There are some wizards - like Malfoy's family - who think they're better than everyone else 'cause they're what people call 'Purebloods'." Hagrid said  
"That's horrible." the glasses-clad boy replied  
"It's disgusting." Ron added as he vomited a few more slugs  
"I don't really care as long as he doesn't call Hermione a Mudblood." Elizabeth shrugged  
"You must be at least a little offended?" Harry asked  
"Not really."  
"Anyhow, it's codswallop ter boot!" Hagrid exclaimed "Dirty blood. There's hardly a wizard today that's not half-blood or less. If we 'adn't married Muggles we'd've died out long ago. Besides, they haven't invented a spell our Hermione and Elizabeth can't do... Don't you two think on it for a minute. Not for a minute..."


	21. The Voices Lead to Mrs Norris

Elizabeth was hearing things. Brilliant, right? Hearing things, even in the wizarding world, wasn't a good thing. Especially when said voice was talking about killing and blood. The raspy and low voice would follow her everywhere. She'd hear it when she went to bed, as she walked to her classes, but, oddly enough, she'd hear it the most when she'd enter the bathrooms. Speaking of lavatories, she'd been spending a considerable amount of time in the abandoned girl's lavatory. It was the perfect place to study without interruption and, to be honest, Elizabeth was getting tired of all the drama between Malfoy and the Golden Trio, the ever-so-stupid Gilderoy Lockhart and Quidditch. Today wasn't any different. Ellie was sitting on the floor, her back to the round sinks with her Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts books laid out beside her. A transfiguration book on her lap, and her willow wood wand in her right hand, the jade eyed girl practiced turning a bright green beetle into a button.

Suddenly, a small gust of cool wind made Liz's dark chocolate locks blew in front of her eyes. This happened quite a bit since she wasn't _completely_ alone in this bathroom.

"What are you trying to do today, Elizabeth?" a high squeaky voice said  
"Trying to turn a beetle into a button, Myrtle." Liz sighed  
"That's nice... I remember when I had to do that. You know, before I died."

Myrtle would often mention the time she died. Maybe she did that for pity or maybe that was just something ghosts did. Although, the Bloody Baron never did speak of his death, so maybe it wasn't that. Nevertheless, the topic would come up often. But today, that conversation was cut short when the same raspy voice whispered in her head.

" _Blood... I smell blood..._ "  
"Myrtle, did you hear that?" Liz asked, her gaze darting across the room  
"Hear what?" the ghost responded  
"That voice."  
"There wasn't any voice." Myrtle said, floating up to the round window on the other side of the bathroom  
" _Let me rip you... Let me kill you..._ "  
"There it was again!" Ellie gasped, standing up and collecting her books "I'll see you later, Myrtle!"

Elizabeth ran out of the bathroom, following the source of the sound. She stepped closer to the wall, playing her fingers along the stone. The student then began walk, slowly at first, then more quickly, as if following something moving faster and faster. She rounded the corner and suddenly came face to face with Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Did you guys here that?" Elizabeth asked the trio  
"No, we _didn't_. What is wrong with you two?" Hermione said  
"Harry, you can hear it too!?"  
"Yes!"  
"Oh, God that makes me feel _so_ much better!" Liz breathed "I thought I was going crazy!"  
"Where'd you hear it?" Harry asked  
"In the abandoned girl's bathroom, just now. What about you?"  
"I heard it first in Lockhart's office, then again just-"  
" _Kill... Time to kill..._ "  
"It's moving!" the two dark haired kids said  
"I think it's going to kill!" Harry continued

Ellie and Harry both ran off, following the source of the sound. The raspy voice moved further away into the castle. Hermione and Ron exchanged a worried glance before following. The two friends dashed madly down the hallway and up the stairs, taking the steps three at a time. They made the landing, rushed through the archway, and slid to a stop. Harry caught Elizabeth as she stopped abruptly and almost fell. They listened for the voice again. Nothing. Slowly, the two peered down. Water was oozing over the stone floor, surrounding their shoes.

"Damn, my converse..." Elizabeth complained "Oh... What's _that_?"

Behind their own reflection in the water, words were undulating like a dream. Ron and Hermione came huffing up.

"Harry, Liz, what are you doing?"

The two pointed toward the wall in front of them. Shimmering on said wall were the words that reflected in the water.

"' _The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir... beware_.'" Hermione read off the stone wall  
"What's _that_? Hanging there?" Ron asked  
"That's Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris..." Liz said, approaching the animal

The cat hung stiffly by her tail from a torch bracket, eyes open and blank. While Hermione, Ron and Harry stared at the feline, Elizabeth's eyes shifted to the adjacent window. Near the topmost pane, spiders scuttled up a silvery thread and fought to get through a crack in the glass.

"Look at that. Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" Liz asked  
"Ron...?" Hermione said, turning towards the ginger  
"I-I... don't... l-like spid-ders..." the boy stuttered, backing away

Suddenly, the stairwell was alive with voices and, seconds later, dozens of students streamed forth, chattering. When they stopped, seeing the wall and, standing before it, Harry, Ron, Elizabeth and Hermione, a thudding silence fell. Then none other than Draco Malfoy pushed forward, eyed the wall, and grinned nastily.

"' _Enemies of the heir, beware._ ' You'll be next, Mudbloods!" the boy stated, his gaze finding Hermione's

Ellie stood in front of her protectively and glared at Malfoy, crossing her arms. The boy's cocky grin immediately disappeared and his eyes went wide, visibly afraid. Another punch in the face was not something he wanted anytime soon. Just then, Argus Filch appeared. When his eyes fell upon his rigid cat, the blame went directly to the quartet who discovered her. Dumbledore then came into the hallway, calming the caretaker and assuring him that she wasn't dead; just petrified. The Headmaster then asked everyone to leave. Everyone except Harry, Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth, of course. Now it was Lockhart's turn to speak his loud, obnoxious mind.

"Unlucky I wasn't there. I know just the spell that could have spared her." he said dramatically  
"But how she's been petrified... I cannot say." Dumbledore admitted softly  
"Ask _them_! It's them that've done it. You saw what they wrote on the wall!" Filch argued, pointing at Harry and Liz  
"That is not true, sir!" the girl gasped "We never touched Mrs. Norris!"  
"If I might, Headmaster..." a low voice drawled

The four children and all the professors turned their heads towards said voice. Professor Snape stood to the side, eyeing everyone with the usual critical eye. He glanced at Elizabeth.

"Perhaps Miss Granger and her friends were simply in the wrong place... at the wrong time?"

Harry, Ron and Hermione blinked, surprised. Could their least favourite professor be defending them? No. Probably just defending Elizabeth, the only Slytherin, and only reason to defend any of them. After all, he did name _her_ first.

"However, the circumstances are suspicious... I, for one, do not recall seeing Potter at dinner."  
"I'm afraid that's my doing, Severus." Lockhart butted in "You see, Harry was helping me answer my fan mail."

Elizabeth face contorted in disgust towards Harry, who rolled his eyes towards the blonde professor. Fan mail? Gross. Snape seemed to have the same reaction, because his lip curled in disgust, just as Hermione butted into the conversation.

"That's why Ron and I went looking for him, Professor. We'd just found him when Harry said-" she cut herself off  
"Yes, Miss Granger?" Severus said, raising a questioning eyebrow  
"When I said I wasn't hungry." Harry answered "We were heading back to the Common Room and... found Mrs. Norris."

Snape eyed Harry coldly, obviously not believing him. Harry looked away and towards Elizabeth. All professors did the same, since they still had no idea why she was here. No one had heard her speak since she told Filch off.

"And what about her? She could have done it! Where was she when-?" Filch shouted  
"I didn't do anything!" Elizabeth interrupted, vexed "I was-"  
"You were what, Miss Granger?" Snape asked  
"I was studying in the abandoned girls' lavatory. People don't annoy me in there! And contrary to popular belief, I do enjoy being alone!" the brunette admitted truthfully "Sorry... Got carried away."

There was a moment of stunned silence. Especially coming from the Golden Trio, who assumed Elizabeth was always fine and loved being around people. There were certain things that they didn't know, and that they never would. Even the professors seemed surprise at this revelation. Liz always seemed to be bright, friendly and confident towards those who respected her, and spiteful towards those who weren't. They never thought that she was so uncomfortable around people, except Dumbledore. Nothing surprised that man.

"My cat has been petrified! I want to see some proof, some punishment!" Filch yelled, breaking the tense silence  
"Innocent until proven guilty." Dumbledore intervened "We will be able to cure her, Argus. As I understand it, Madam Sprout has a very healthy growth of Mandrakes. When they have matured, a potion will be made which will revive Mrs. Norris. In the meantime, I advise caution... To all."

* * *

 ****Now I know what you're thinking. "She's too much like Harry. She got into Quidditch early, she's hearing the same things as Harry. It's stupid! She's such a Mary Sue!" I know. I am aware of all this. I know she's very similar to Harry, but that's normal. She has to be for my ending to work, you'll see. I've got plans. Until then, please refrain from pointing this out to me, okay?****

 **Thank you,**  
 **Stark loves Deadpool**


	22. A Dangerous Mission

The four friends had bid each other goodnight without a word. Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way back to their common room alone, chattering about Harry and Liz's predicament, whereas Elizabeth was escorted by the potions master. He didn't speak. He simply nodded in a certain direction, and that was enough for the young witch to understand what to do. She followed him almost robotically, and the man didn't stop or slow down for her. Snape didn't ask questions about why she was studying alone in the bathroom, or if she was even telling the truth. Ellie assumed he believed her since he'd make it clear if he didn't. She was the same way.

Elizabeth wasn't wearing her uniform, which wasn't a problem since it was the weekend. She watched her feet take steps across the dark stone floor, her dusty converse next to the shined leather shoes of her professor. Severus Snape glided like a waiter in a five star restaurant and his footfalls made no sound at all. The young girl's heels gently clicked on the stone and her strides were short and rushed to keep up with her professor. The man's cloak silently billowed behind him, as Ellie's various necklaces jingled in the eerie quiet of the castle.

Snape and Elizabeth had reached the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. She stopped in front of the entrance and uttered the password, but before entering, her professor turned to her and requested her presence in his office. Maybe he just didn't want to talk about it out in the open. Who knows? Liz looked into the hole-in-the-wall that gave onto the giant fireplace and tufted sofas, and took a nervous breath before following her professor into his office. She was nervous, to say the least. Even though Severus Snape was her favourite professor, he was an intimidating man and he wouldn't settle for an incomplete answer. An incomplete answer to Elizabeth's time in the abandoned bathroom, she thought.

Snape's office was just as you'd expect it. The walls and floors were of a dark stone, and the furniture was of the same tone. Each wall was lined with bookshelves filled with spellbooks, books by muggle authors and different things shoved into glass jars. In the center of the room sat a large dark desk, different lengths of parchment piled up on top. It was oddly comforting to Liz. Her sister would think the opposite. The professor sat on his chair and quickly glanced toward the chair in front of him for Elizabeth to sit on. Which she did immediately. Once again the man said nothing, and taking this as an invitation to explain herself, Liz spoke up.

"I really was studying in the abandoned lavatory, sir." the girl said softly, gazing down at her hands  
"I'm aware of that Miss Granger." Snape said, not looking up from his parchment "What I am not aware of, is why you were standing in front of Filch's cat alongside your friends."  
"I was studying and I heard people running and arguing, sir. So I-"  
"It is not in your best interest to lie to me, Miss Granger."

Elizabeth rapidly looked up, eyes wide. This man really did know everything about his Slytherin students. Shifting in her seat and observing the things around her, Liz stayed silent for a moment. Should she tell him? Hearing voices whether you're a muggle or a witch isn't an ideal situation. Maybe he could help her? No... How could he help someone who hears voices? But the words came right out of Elizabeth's mouth, whether she wanted to share them or not. She couldn't lie to her head of house.

"It started about a month ago..."  
"What did, Miss Granger?"  
"The voices..."

Snape's quill stopped moving; Elizabeth heard it stop scratching on the paper, considering her eyes were glued to her painted nails (she spent the previous night having her nails done by Millicent). She quickly flicked her jade coloured eyes upward to meet ink-like orbs. The professor sat up and set his quill down to the side, his interest suddenly piqued.

"Go on." he said simply  
"Everywhere I go, at certain hours of the day, I hear this... raspy voice." Liz admitted "I heard it tonight. I was following it when I bumped into my sister..."  
"And what does this voice say, exactly?"

Elizabeth let out a dry chuckle.

"You think I'm crazy."  
"I didn't say that."  
"It's the way you said it, sir."  
"Miss Granger, if you're going to assume things before I say them, please leave." Snape said bluntly

Liz nodded in apology. What was she thinking being rude like that? Habit. No... Nerves.

"It keeps talking about... killing." Snape raised an eyebrow "About ripping people, blood. Honestly, sir. It scares me."  
"Who knows about this?" Snape asked, seemingly concerned  
"Harry, Hermione, Ron and you, sir." Ellie replied "Do you think I should tell the Headmaster?"  
"Let me discuss this with the Headmaster. It's past curfew."  
"Of course, sir."

Elizabeth rose, the chair pushing back simultaneously. She grabbed her bag off the floor and walked out of her professor's office, with multiple thoughts running through her mind. What was she going to do? What would the Headmaster think? Would the voice come back? She hoped not. A voice talking about killing people wasn't something she wanted to have, regularly, inside her head. Liz slinked inside the Common Room, making as little noise as she could. Inside her dorm, she put on her pyjamas and slid between the silk sheets, into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

She didn't speak to her sister, Ron and Harry until they had the same class, which was the next afternoon. Today's topic in Transfiguration was turning animals into crystal water goblets. Elizabeth refused to turn Aslan into a goblet, and so did Aslan. He hissed at her when she told him. Therefore, she used one of the provided animals: a bird. The girl sat next to Millicent, in the front of the class. Professor McGonagall stood at the front, explaining the process. She tapped on her animal three times with the tip of her wand and in the blink of an eye, the parrot turned into a crystal goblet.

"Now, who would like to go next?" the woman asked "Mr. Weasley?"

Ron did as he was told and tapped his rat, Scabbers (Aslan didn't like him), three times. Instead of turning into a clear goblet, it turned into a furry cup with a rat tail.

"You must replace that wand, Mr. Weasley." Professor McGonagall said

Ron nodded sheepishly, and looked down at his broken wand. Suddenly, a quiet swish captured the teacher's attention. McGonagall turned towards the sound. As usual, Hermione's hand was high in the air, making Elizabeth's eyes roll naturally.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"  
"Professor, I was wondering if you could tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?"

A hush fell over the class, and even Malfoy, who was whispering with Crabbe and Goyle, ceased everything.

"My subject is Transfiguration, Miss Granger."  
"Yes, Professor. But there seems to be very little written about the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione continued "For those of us with a personal interest in the subject, that is... disturbing."

Malfoy regarded Hermione with chilly amusement, but stopped when he saw her sister's glare. McGonagall considered Hermione's question for a long moment, then nodded and began her explanation.

"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. Three of the founders co-existed quite harmoniously. One did not." McGonagall paused "Salazar Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. In other words, purebloods. Unable to sway the others, he decided to leave the school. According to legend, Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in this castle, known as the Chamber of Secrets. Shortly before departing, he sealed it until that time when his own true heir returned to the school. The heir alone would be able to open the Chamber of Secrets and unleash the horror within, and by so doing, purge the school of all those who, in Slytherin's view, were unworthy to study magic."  
"Muggle-borns..." Elizabeth confirmed  
"Yes. Naturally, the school has been searched many times for such a chamber. It has never been found."  
"Professor, what does the legend say lives within the Chamber of Secrets?" the jade-eyed girl asked  
"The Chamber is said to be home to something which the heir of Slytherin alone can control. It is said to be home... to a monster."

* * *

After class, Hermione, Elizabeth, Harry and Ron walked together, behind Malfoy and his crew. The Chamber of Secrets, the writing on the wall and the voices in Liz and Harry's heads were the new topic of conversation among the quartet. All of them were nervous. Ron had definitely expressed that. But Harry and Elizabeth had it worse. They were the ones hearing voices.

"D'you think it's true? D'you think there really is a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked  
"Yes! Couldn't you tell? McGonagall's worried." Hermione said "All the teachers are worried."  
"But if there really is a Chamber of Secrets, and its really been opened, that means..."  
"That means the heir of Slytherin is returned to Hogwarts." Elizabeth answered "The question is, who is it?"  
"Let's think." Ron announced in mock puzzlement "Who do we know thinks Muggle-borns are scum?"  
"If you're thinking about him-" Hermione said, looking ahead at Malfoy  
"Of course! You heard him: 'You'll be next, Mudbloods!'"  
"We all heard him. But Malfoy, the heir of Slytherin? Honestly, Ron, I'd be a better candidate." Elizabeth chuckled, rolling her eyes  
"Maybe Ron's right, Liz." Harry interjected "I mean look at his family. The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin for centuries."  
"Crabbe and Goyle must know. Maybe we could trick them into telling us?" Ron suggested  
"No. Even they aren't that thick." Hermione said "But there might be another way. Mind you, it would be difficult. Not to mention we'd be breaking about fifty school rules. And it would be dangerous... Very dangerous."  
"When do we start?" Elizabeth smiled


	23. Another One?

Elizabeth had gone to the library for the first time in weeks. Well, not that anyone would know that she went. The book that she needed was found in the restricted section of the Hogwarts Library. Hermione had a brilliant idea, but it was Ellie who was going to execute the most of it.

The schoolgirl, covered with Harry's invisibility cloak, made her way through the dark library. She unhooked the latch to the restriction section with the aid of a simple Alohomora, and gently glided inside the even darker room. Liz had seen darkness before, in the comfort of her bedroom and the discomfort of the Forbidden Forest. This wasn't like that. This was the kind of darkness that robbed you of your best sense and replaced it with a paralyzing fear. Unless you were a bold and daring Gryffindor, of course. In this darkness Elizabeth walked, muscles cramped as she held out an oil lamp. She quickly scanned the book titles with the little sight she had left. Her thin and nimble fingers moved slowly across the book spines until they came upon the one she was looking for: Moste Potente Potions.

Ellie was the best person, of the quartet, to make a potion. After all, she was the only one who got O's on her exams. Therefore, she was the best choice for making one of the most complicated potion there was: the Polyjuice potion. One afternoon, when the four of them had a free period, they gathered in an undisturbed corner of the castle and huddled in. Elizabeth had the large potions book open on her lap and in everyone's view. The pages were littered with disturbing illustrations and instructions to hundreds of advanced potions.

"You guys have no idea how amazing this book-"  
"Elizabeth, get on with it." Ron interrupted  
"Yes, mother." the girl mocked, sticking her tongue out at him "Okay... here it is. ' _The Polyjuice Potion. Properly brewed, the Polyjuice potion allows the drinker to transform himself temporarily into the physical form of another._ '"  
"You mean Harry and I drink some of this stuff and we turn into Crabbe and Goyle?" Ron asked  
"Yes." Hermione replied simply  
"Wicked! Malfoy'll tell us anything!"  
"I still don't understand why Liz can't ask him." Harry pointed out  
"Because I don't want to talk to him." Elizabeth shrugged  
"Are you sure you're going to be able to make this, Liz?" Hermione asked her sister, looking at the instructions and ingredients to the potion "I've never seen a more complicated potion befo-"  
"Puh-lease! I could make this in my sleep. Lacewing flies? Leeches? Fluxweed? A touch of whoever you're changing into? Easy."  
"Hang on now. I'm not drinking anything that has Crabbe toenails in it!" Ron complained  
"How long will it take to make, Liz?" Harry asked, ignoring his ginger friend  
"A month."  
"A month!? But if Malfoy is the heir of Slytherin... he could attack half the Muggle-borns in school by then!"  
"You didn't have to tell me that..."

* * *

The crowd roared, watching as Marcus Flint, Elizabeth Granger and Adrian Pucey, the Slytherin Chasers, bent low over their new brooms, jetting past the overmatched Gryffindors. It was mid-game and the Slytherins were winning by a long shot. Elizabeth was still the star Chaser, and scoring the most points, alongside Pucey, for her team. Flint was just causing trouble, as usual. Ron was fuming, as if he were taking Slytherin's dominance personally and Hermione was watching the game nervously, because of both Harry and Elizabeth. As Liz soared through the clear sky, she scanned the crowd and the game. She saw Lucius Malfoy in the stands, probably here to monitor his investments. She caught the Quaffle from Pucey and shot a another goal. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice call out to Harry. Liz quickly turned her head as she swerved and avoided a Bludger from Fred Weasley. The raven haired boy was doing as many zig-zags as possible to avoid a Bludger that seemed to have a liking for Harry; he couldn't shake it off. Receiving the Quaffle from Flint, for only the second time in the game, Liz darted towards the goal, therefore towards Harry, and Malfoy, who was probably snickering about his Bludger problem.

"Training for the ballet, Potter?" the blonde sneered  
"No, he isn't. But if you don't look for that God damned snitch, you will." Elizabeth returned, flicking the boy on the forehead and zooming off again

A few more goals from both teams later, Lee Jordan was heard saying 'Malfoy is down!' over the voice amplifier. Liz cursed loudly, earning a comment by Jordan, and pushed on, stealing the Quaffle from Johnson. She passed it over to Flint, who missed, but was luckily retrieved by Pucey, who aimed for the middle hoop. It was blocked by Wood. Suddenly, a loud scream was heard from the other side of the Pitch, making Liz jump and unable to avoid a Bludger, which she received in the stomach. The air was knocked out of her lungs and she folded in half, over her broom. The brunette then painfully looked over, seeing that Harry was sprawled out on the ground and the Bludger had fallen down. Suddenly, realizing that Harry wasn't moving, she forgot her pain and zoomed toward the ground. Unfortunately, as Elizabeth made her way toward him, _Gitroy Lockfart_ was heading towards Harry as well. What could he possibly want now?

"Not to worry, Harry. I'll fix that arm of yours straight away!" the blond man announced  
"No... no... not you." the glasses-clad boy said  
"Poor boy doesn't know what he's saying. This won't hurt a bit..."

Lockhart twirled his wand, and Harry braced himself for the worst. Silence. Harry, looked up, seeing everyone's horror stricken faces. The boy's arm was limp like an empty glove.

"Ah. Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. The point is, the bones are no longer broken."  
"Broken? He doesn't have any bones at all!"

* * *

The first stop after the Quidditch match, which, to the Slytherin's dismay, the Gryffindors won, was the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey shooed a dazed and slumping Malfoy out with Crabbe and Goyle. Ron, standing by Harry's bed with Hermione, snickered, then watched the matron pour out a steaming beaker full of liquid from a bottle of Skele-Gro. A group of Gryffindors, and Elizabeth, stood beside his bed waiting impatiently for the woman's instructions.

"He should have been brought straight to me! I can mend bones in a heartbeat - but growing them back-"  
"You will be able to, won't you?" Hermione asked suddenly  
"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful." Poppy admitted truthfully "You're in for a rough night, Potter. Regrowing bones is nasty business."

The matron handed him the steaming glass of cloudy liquid, and Harry takes it. He slowly takes a small sip and grimaces.

"Well, what did you expect? Pumpkin juice?" the matron said, then turned to Elizabeth "Now, if you'd let me look at your ribs-"  
"No, I'm fine really. Just a little bruising." the girl replied, wincing as she tried to move away  
"Liz." Hermione glared  
"Fine. Give me a once over, Doc."

Madam Pomfrey rolled her eyes, unappreciative of the sarcasm Elizabeth was sharing. She led the young witch to the cot beside Harry's and motioned for her to lie down. The matron then proceeded to poke and prod her sides, stomach and ribs causing her to wince and let out a few pained growls.

"Fractured ribs, my dear." Poppy said simply  
"Shit..." Ellie whispered, unfortunately loud enough for the nurse to hear  
"I don't appreciate that kind of language in my presence, Miss Granger."

Just then, a camera flash disturbed the calm in the room, making Madam Pomfrey loose her temper and shout for everyone to get out, save Liz and Harry who had to stay overnight. Chocolate frogs, get-well-soon cards and other sweets soon cluttered the room. The two friends spent most of their time trying to aim Every Flavour Beans into each other's mouths from their beds, and eventually, when all the nurses were gone, Elizabeth crawled out of her bed, painfully, and sat cross-legged at the edge of Harry's cot. Hermione had brought her sister a book; her favourite book. So for an hour or so, Ellie read pages upon pages of _The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas_ , to Harry, until he fell asleep. The jade-eyed girl smiled fondly, as if she just read her little brother to sleep and tucked him in, before retreating to her own cot and falling into a pleasant sleep. Despite the pain in her sides, the lack of bones in Harry's arm and her Quidditch loss, today, according to Elizabeth, was one of the better days...

Elizabeth woke up with a jolt. The girl groaned and stretched her limbs. Her eyelids rapidly opened and she was met with a startling sight. Big, bright yellow eyes bore into her green ones. Liz screeched and sat upright, causing her to hiss in pain. Immediately, a squeaky voice squealed and a small figure jumped out of the way, towards Harry's cot.

"Jesus Christ! What the f-"  
"Liz!"  
"Sorry, but what the hell is that!?"

A small creature, no taller than a toddler, stood at the edge of Harry's cot. It wore a filthy tea towel around its body, and its gaunt face was framed by over-sized ears.

"That's Dobby, the house-elf." Harry replied  
"Oh... okay." Elizabeth said warily "And what is... it doing here?"  
" _He's_ about to tell me why he's been trying to kill me."  
" _What_!?"  
"Not kill you, sir, never kill you!" the house-elf gasped "Dobby remembers how it was before Harry Potter triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. We house elves were treated like vermin, sir. Of course, Dobby is still treated like vermin..." he blew his nose on the tea-towel he wore  
"Why do you wear that thing, Dobby?" Liz asked  
"This, miss? 'Tis a mark of the house elf's enslavement. Dobby can only be freed if his master presents him with clothes. The family is careful not to pass Dobby so much as a sock, miss, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."

Suddenly, Dobby's ears quivered, detecting some sort of sound, then began to whisper.

"Terrible things are about to happen at Hogwarts! Harry Potter and Elizabeth Granger must not stay here now that history is to repeat itself!"  
"Repeat itself? You mean this has happened before?" Harry asked quickly  
"And what does this have to do with _me_?" Ellie insisted "I'm not the-boy-who-lived, he is."

The house-elf seized the bottle of Skele-Gro on Harry's bedside table and began beating himself on the head with it, as punishment. Liz looked at the creature as if he were crazy.

"Tell me, Dobby? When did this happen before? Who's doing it now?"  
"Dobby cannot say, sir. Dobby only wants Harry Potter and Elizabeth Granger to be safe."  
"Dobby, who is it?" Elizabeth demands

With a crack, and complaints from both young students, the small creature disappeared. Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind the curtain next to the raven-haired boy's cot. Liz and Harry both ducked and laid back down on their beds, pretending to be asleep. The girl faced Harry so she could see what was happening behind him, through a slit in said curtain. Dumbledore, in a nightcap, and McGonagall, in a tartan robe, heaved a small statue onto a cot further in the room. Seconds later, Madam Pomfrey bustled in.

"There's been another attack." McGonagall said, causing Poppy to gasp


	24. Dueling Club

The abandoned girls' bathroom was highly dilapidated. The plaster on the walls and ceiling, which used to cover the stone, was chipped and fell into the single, large round sink in the center of the bathroom. Water leaked from the toilets, exposed pipes and taps, their dripping sounds echoing through the silent room. However, it was meticulously cleaned. The old, tarnished silver-framed mirrors sparkled in the morning light and the sink, though also chipped in certain places, was as brilliant white as any in a showroom. The stone floors were scrubbed clean and the bathroom cubicles were in pristine condition, apart from the results of Myrtle's constant flooding.

In front of the large round basin, sitting cross-legged on the floor, was Elizabeth, her hair pulled up into a loose bun, a few strands of dark hair falling each side of her face. Her robes were flung carelessly aside, leaving the girl in casual day wear, multiple necklaces jingling as she stirred Fluxweed into the bubbling potion. Ron, Harry and Hermione, who were all still in their robes, sat in front of her, talking about what Liz and Harry had heard the previous night while they were in the hospital wing.

"Again? You mean the Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione questioned, staring intently at what her sister was doing  
"Of course! Don't you see?" Ron said as if it were obvious "Lucius Malfoy must've opened it when he was at school here, and now he's told Draco how to do it!"  
"I highly doubt it." Liz said, sprinkling something into the forest green potion "Sure, he's a prat and hates Muggles, but I say he's too much of a knob to pull this off."  
"Maybe." Hermione chuckled "We'll have to wait for the Polyjuice potion to know for sure."  
"Again, do you have to go into the Slytherin common room? No outsider's been inside for seven centuries; I'm betraying my House guys."  
"Do you want Muggles to keep getting attacked?" Harry asked  
"Obviously not."  
"Well, then. It's settled." Hermione concluded, making her sister sigh  
"Enlighten me, Liz." Ron piped up "Why are we brewing this potion in broad daylight, in the middle of a girls' lavatory? Don't you think we'll get caught?"  
"Never. No one ever comes in here... except me."  
"Why?"  
"Moaning Myrtle." Ellie said simply  
"Who's Moaning Myrtle?" the ginger asked

Suddenly, from the other side of the lavatory, came a loud, piercing screech. The ghost of a young girl came soaring in and ended up face to face with Ron, causing his face to contort in fear.

"I'm Moaning Myrtle. I wouldn't expect _you_ to know me. Who would ever talk about fat, ugly, miserable, moping, Moaning Myrtle?" she shouted, then quieted down "Except for you, Liz."

Myrtle sobbed loudly and floated away, diving head first into a toilet. Liz looked back at her friends, who all looked confused and slightly frightened, and chuckled before going back to her potion.

"She's a little sensitive."

* * *

It was around midday and, as posted on every House's notice board, it was now time for Dueling Club. Last week, Lockhart had made a Dueling Club notice and asked for all the students of different years to gather in the Great Hall, on different days. The first day was reserved for the second years, probably because of Harry Potter. Everyone knew Gilderoy Lockhart wanted the good publicity. Everyone except most of the girls in the school, who were too occupied with fawning over him.

A golden stage had been erected for the occasion. All the second year Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and Slytherins gathered around it and whispered among each other. With his usual showman's flair, Lockhart walked up in his lilac duel robes and stood in the center of the stage, an over-confident smile on his face.

"Gather round! Gather round!" the man called, pacing the platform "Can everyone _see_ me? Can you all _hear_ me? Excellent. In light of the dark events of recent weeks, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little Dueling Club, to train you all up in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works."

A boy came up to Harry and started talking to him. Elizabeth shushed him and snapped her fingers in front of her sister's face to break her out of her daydream. Both Ron and Harry chuckled, but groaned when Lockhart began talking again.

"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape-"

Severus Snape slowly walked up the four short steps to the stage, calmly and collectively. Contrary to Gitroy's pale purple ensemble, fit for Neville's gran, Snape donned a very sharp set of black dueling robes, which, according to Elizabeth, looked way better than the lilac things his opponent was wearing.

"He has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters worrying. You'll still have your potions master when I'm through with him, never fear."

Elizabeth thought she saw her head of house roll his eyes, but she couldn't swear to it since she was too busy doing just that.

"What's the fun in that?" Ron said, causing Liz to punch his shoulder

Snape and Lockhart remained silent as they faced each other and bowed, before taking ten steps back. Lockhart spun around slowly and gracefully, pointing his wand as if he were posing for a photo. Snape, on the other hand, turned briskly, pointing his wand at the bottle-blond like a sword.

"As you can see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position." Lockhart said  
"Yeah right..." Liz scoffed quietly "Looks like he's posing for a magazine."  
"On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."  
"Such a shame..."

Ron and Harry chuckled. Hermione glared.

"One... Two... Three-"  
" _Expelliarmus_!"

A dazzling flash of golden light burst from Snape's wand and blasted Lockhart off his feet, sending him across the stage. The man fell limp like ragdoll, smashing into the wall at the end of the stage. Quite a few students gasped, but more laughed. All Slytherins clapped and cheered for their Head of House, who finally managed to shut the git up. Even Ron and Harry, who obviously weren't fond of Snape, admitted that it was brilliant. Lockhart, with great difficulty, stood up and readjusted his lilac robes before retrieving his wand from a random Hufflepuff student and walking back toward the center of the stage where Snape stood proudly. Well, he didn't look proud, he looked impassive as usual. But Elizabeth was proud. Slytherin for the win, she thought.

"Well, there you have it. That was a disarming charm." Lockhart said, a fake smile on his face "An excellent idea to show them that, professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do." Elizabeth rolled her eyes as that statement "If I wanted to stop you, it would have been only too easy..."  
"Then show us defensive charms, you knob." Liz whispered, earning an agreeing hum from Ron and Harry  
"Perhaps it would be prudent to first teach the students to block unfriendly spells, Professor." Snape said calmly  
"See? Told you." Ellie complained quietly  
"An excellent suggestion, Professor Snape." Gilderoy admitted "Let's have a volunteer pair. Potter, Weasley, how about you?"

Ron and Harry began to go up the stage but Snape began speaking again.

"Weasley's wand causes devastation with the simplest of spells. We'll be sending Potter to the hospital wing in a matchbox." he said, making Ron shrink back into his spot "Might I suggest someone from my own house? Malfoy, perhaps?"

Obviously Professor Snape would choose Malfoy, since he and Harry didn't like each other. The two boys eyed each other malevolently as they took their places onstage. Begrudgingly, they bowed to each other. Liz was nervous. Sure Harry was the boy who lived, but Draco had more experience with dueling. He'd have no problems hexing Harry, whereas the latter would be a little slower if it ever got ugly. Mind you, she could be wrong.

"Scared, Potter?" Malfoy sneered  
"You wish." Harry countered

The boys both turned and took ten steps before turning around, wands at the ready. Lockhart began a countdown but Malfoy beat him to it and muttered a spell, making a burst of white light shoot out of his wand and knocking Harry off his feet. Hermione and Ron cringed, whereas Elizabeth was just staring as if she were watching the most fascinating game of Quidditch in wizard history. The raven-haired boy jumped back up and with a loud _Rictusempra_ , he sent Malfoy to the ground, a bright silver stream hitting him straight in the stomach. To Harry's horror, Draco stood back up, yelling _Serpensortia_ , making a large black snake slither across the stage. Without realizing, the corners of Ellie's mouth twitch upward as she watched the snake slither across the golden platform. Yes, Harry was her friend. No, she shouldn't be happy. But the Slytherin inside got the better of her. Snape smiled in amusement as Lockhart panicked and complained about wanting the students to only perform disarming charms.

"Don't move Potter, I'll get rid of it for you." Snape said and walked forward, only to be cut off by the other professor  
"Allow me!"

Lockhart flicked his wand, making the coal coloured snake fly into the air. It hissed in rage as it landed and headed straight for Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff student that spoke to Harry earlier. As students screamed and moved away, the reptile rose, fangs exposed, poised to strike Justin. Without a thought, Elizabeth pushed forward to the edge of the stage.

"No!" she yelled, causing everyone to turn to her "Don't you dare!"

The snake slowly closed its mouth and turned towards her, then Harry. A fraction of a second after, it turned back to Justin, ready to strike again.

"Leave him!" Harry shouted

With panicked eyes, Elizabeth looked at the snake who looked back and forth between her and the raven-haired boy on stage. It hovered for a moment, then miraculously slumped to the floor. Harry and Liz both blinked, as if coming out of a trance, and stared oddly at the snake. Justin then looked at the both of them, a mix of horror and confusion etched onto his features.

"What are you two playing at?"

Justin backed away. Confused, Harry and Elizabeth eyed the faces around them. Malfoy looked shocked as Harry glanced his way, but confused when Liz looked at him. Lockhart looked as if he had just come face-to-face with You-Know-Who. Seamus and Neville's eyes glittered from fear of both of them. With a wave of his wand, Snape made the snake vanish in a puff of black smoke, then regarded Harry with a look that was both shrewd and calculating. In other words, not a good look. Then he turned towards Elizabeth. This gaze was very different from the one he just gave the glasses-clad boy. It was probably the first time that anyone had seen Snape both frightened and concerned...


	25. Parseltongues

The whole Hall was in stupor. Everyone was looking at Harry and Elizabeth as if they had two heads. The students were all so scared. They knew it was dumb to be scared, they had known Liz and Harry for two years and knew that they were nice people, but they couldn't help it. The young Slytherin and Gryffindor, as they were being stared at, were dragged away by Hermione and Ron all the way to Gryffindor tower. Upon entering, everyone quickly went up to their dormitories and sent Elizabeth dirty looks, for both what just happened and the fact she was a snake. News travelled fast.

"What's wrong with _them_?" Liz asked snidely  
"What's wrong with them? What's wrong with _you_?" Ron asked  
"What are you talking about, Ron?" Harry questioned, looking between the ginger and Hermione  
"You didn't tell us you were a Parselmouth, Harry!" the girl shouted "And Liz... How?"  
"A what?" the raven haired boy asked  
"A Parselmouth..." Elizabeth said contemplatively "We can talk to snakes..."  
"I know. I mean, I accidentally set a python on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once. But so what? I bet loads of people here can do it."  
"No Harry, they can't." Ellie added "It's not a common gift. This is bad... Very bad."

Frozen in place as if determined to make the least noise as possible, the girl's eyes darted everywhere unable to focus on one thing. Her eyes were large and watery. Elizabeth couldn't breath, it felt as if someone was choking her. Her heart was racing and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and wait for someone to save her. But no one could. A Parselmouth? She couldn't be. The only one who was ever able to talk to snakes was Salazar Slytherin and... Maybe she was a true Slytherin, after all...

A choked cry forced itself up her throat, and she felt a drop run down her cheek. Hermione Ron and Harry kept talking, but stopped at that moment. They'd never seen Elizabeth so scared, so vulnerable. She was always that girl who'd laugh when people would insult her and sass them back into submission. She was that girl who'd always appear unbreakable, who always seemed happy. Even when she was scared, like the previous year in the Forbidden Forest, she always made sure to seem calm and collected. Not this time.

"Liz?" a soft voice said, pulling her out of her distressing thoughts  
"Yeah?" her voice cracked  
"We'll be okay..." she recognized Harry's voice  
"I don't know, Harry..."

Elizabeth then felt two hands place themselves upon her shoulders. She looked up and was met with Harry's bright green eyes. Liz wiped her tears away and let her head fall onto his shoulder. After barely a second, Harry wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. Tears continued to freely fall from her eyes and soak Harry's shirt.

"Listen you two, there's a reason why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent." Hermione said "Salazar Slytherin was a Parselmouth. He could talk to snakes too."  
"Exactly. And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-grandson or something, Harry." Ron added  
"But I'm not - I can't be." the glasses-clad boy replied, his hold still tight on Elizabeth  
"He lived a thousand years ago. For all we know... you could be."  
"What about me?" Elizabeth said, her voice shaky  
"I don't know, Liz..." her sister sighed "I don't know..."

* * *

Elizabeth held the strap of her bag tightly as she walked through the halls of Hogwarts Castle. Dozens of stares pierced through her, accusing her of the attacks on the school, accusing her of being the Heir of Slytherin. The brunette avoided the glares and kept her head down, immediately heading for the abandoned girls' bathroom to continue brewing the Polyjuice potion. Careful not to get any of her tears in the cauldron, she gently heated the bubbling brew and added Lacewing Flies to the potion, before heading out and ignoring Myrtle for the first time in months.

The time allotted for homework and studying with her House wasn't easy either. You would think that being a Slytherin who could speak to snakes was a good thing... but it wasn't. Especially if you were a Muggle-born, _and_ you were suspected of attacking people. The only one who seemed to feel bad about Elizabeth's predicament, was Draco Malfoy, but he'd never admit to it, nor would he be seen talking to her since she was public enemy number one, alongside "Saint Potter". Even Millicent Bulstrode, her only true friend in Slytherin, didn't want to be seen with her.

The youngest Granger sat apart from all the others in the study hall, furiously scribbling on a foot-long piece of parchment about the Swelling Solution, and writing down her modifications in her potions book. Feeling dozens of pairs of eyes on her, she slowly glanced up. Almost everybody was staring at her, and as soon as Liz saw them, they all went back to their homework, whispering amongst each other. Elizabeth rolled her eyes, not wanting her fellow Slytherins to see her vulnerability, and went back to her parchment. But the feeling of being watched soon came back, and Liz had had enough. She quickly gathered up her things and shoved them into her bag, handing in her textbook to professor Snape. He nodded curtly at her, and she turned around to face everyone.

"What are you all looking at!?" she snapped, causing everyone to silently panic "I know I'm amazing, but this is getting seriously disturbing!"

All students immediately ducked their heads, afraid that if they didn't, one among them would be her next target. With her head held high, the young Slytherin stormed out of the study hall and down to her dormitory, where she changed out of her robes and grabbed her guitar. Aslan tried to curl up to her, sensing she was upset, but she only picked him up and placed him on her bed before walking out of the Common Room and out to her beech tree, which was lightly covered in snow. Liz began strumming her guitar absent-minded, trying to forget what was happening, but all she could do was think about it. Why could she talk to snakes? She was a Muggle for Christ's sake! Hermione couldn't talk to snakes, but Harry could. Did this have anything to do with Harry? It shouldn't. Elizabeth was smart. She thought that maybe, Harry talking to snakes had something to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and the boy's scar. But did He have anything to do with her talking to serpents? She hoped not, and she thought not. She was born a Muggle, surely You-Know-Who didn't care for an insignificant muggle...

Suddenly, Ellie heard two voices she didn't recognize approach. The brunette shrunk her guitar and climbed the tree, so she could listen in on the conversation without being seen. The two Ravenclaws, Cho Chang and Marcus Belby, that were approaching were definitely talking about her and Harry.

"So, anyway, I told Alexis to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Granger's marked her down as her next victim, it's best she keep a low profile for a while." Cho, said  
"But why would she want to attack Alexis?" Marcus, asked  
"Alexis obviously hates Slytherins, especially Elizabeth Granger."  
"Why?"  
"Everyone knows the sorting hat wanted to put her in Ravenclaw, but _she asked_ to be put in Slytherin."  
"And you think that makes _her_ the Heir of Slytherin?"  
"Marcus, she's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes? They called Salazar Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue." Cho said, then began to whisper darkly "Remember what was written on the wall: ' _Enemies of the Heir Beware_ '. Granger had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first-year Creevey's been annoying her and Harry Potter. Then he gets attacked."  
"She always seemed so nice though, for a Slytherin." Marcus sighed "I mean, she _did_ punch Malfoy in the face after he called her sister a - a you know..."  
"That's what makes it so believable! She-"

Elizabeth had heard enough. Muttering, she climbed down the tree and hugged her coat closer, her feet crunching the little bit of snow on the ground. Then suddenly, she bumped into a large figure. It was Hagrid holding a dead rooster, and Harry who was looking at it oddly as well.

"All righ' Harry, Elizabeth?" the half-giant said  
"Hagrid... What are you doing here?" the two friends asked simultaneously  
"Second one killed this term." Hagrid announced, holding up the dead rooster "Reckon it's either foxes or a Blood-Suckin' Bugbear. Need Dumbledore's permission ter put a charm round the hen-coop... Yeh sure yeh're all righ', you two? Yeh look all hot an' bothered."  
"It's nothing, Hagrid." Elizabeth smiled meekly  
"We've just got a lot of studying to do..." Harry lied, catching on to what Liz was thinking

The two bid goodbye to Hagrid and sauntered off into the courtyard, then entered the castle. Harry and Elizabeth walked silently side by side, no need for expressing what they were feeling. They both knew. Upon entering the castle, dusk had come and the two students slowly came into a dark hall. Up ahead, in the light of a flickering torch, something dark lied on the stone floor. Suddenly, a window pane rattled open and the wind from outside made the torch go out. Harry and Elizabeth glanced at each other then stepped closer. On the floor, lying there motionless, was Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff that the snake wanted to attack during the dueling club a few weeks back. Elizabeth looked up and gasped, causing Harry to look at the same thing Liz just saw. The ghost of Nearly Headless Nick was floating, his head barely hanging onto his body, and teeming with black smoke. Harry nudged his friend and pointed to the ground, where dozens of spiders were scurrying away from the scene. Both Harry and Elizabeth then looked back at each other and spotted something in the corner of their eyes: McGonagall.

"Professor, I swear we-"  
"This is out of my hands, Potter." McGonagall said, cutting Harry off "Mr. Filch, take care of this, please."

The two sets of green eyes shifted towards the shadows behind Minerva McGonagall. Filch was lurking in said shadows, an evil smile on his gaunt face. The Squib stepped forward and hissed quietly.

"Caught in the act. I'll have you out this time, Potter, Granger. Mark my words..."

As McGonagall lead Harry and Elizabeth away, the boy looked down and grasped the girl's hand. A small forced smile drew itself on Liz's face as she tightened her grip.

"Dark magic. That's what you've got, Potter and Granger." Filch muttered from behind "Even the air you breathe comes out poison. You're _evil_. Evil as they come..."

Turning a few corners, and keeping up with a fast-paced McGonagall, the two friends were eventually lead into a hallway with a tall gargoyle at the end. It was fitted into an illuminated arch and stood at least eight feet tall. Minerva stopped in front of it and clearly spoke _Sherbert Lemon_ , a kind of Muggle sweet, and with a loud shudder, the gargoyle sprung to life as it opened its wings and twisted, revealing a stone spiral staircase. McGonagall ushered the two inside, their hands still tightly clasped together, and told them to go all the way up.

"Professor Dumbledore will be waiting for you." the woman spoke

Harry and Elizabeth climbed the steps then walked out of the Gargoyle's embrace and entered a large, circular room. Strange silver and gold instruments whirred and spun quietly, multiple strange trinkets were laid out on a large desk and, on a nearby shelf, sat the sorting hat that put Elizabeth and Harry in Slytherin and Gryffindor, respectively. Harry cast a wary eye at it, whereas Liz observed the past headmasters snoozing in the portraits around them. In the last portrait, the Headmaster was awake and reading a book; professor Dippet. Suddenly, a voice cleared its throat and roughly began talking.

"Bee in your bonnet, Potter?"  
"Well, you see, I was wondering..." Harry began, making Liz turn around and notice he was talking to the sorting hat  
"If I put you in the right house? Yes... you were particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said last year... you would have done well in Slytherin. And you Miss Granger... you really are the _perfect_ Slytherin."

Both students stayed quiet as the hat went back to sleep. Elizabeth's ears then picked up a quiet sound. She turned her head and was met with an old, decrepit bird sitting upon a golden perch. The girl nudged Harry who turned to look just as the bird wobbled and burst into flame. Just then, professor Dumbledore entered and saw Harry's horror-stricken face.

"Professor, your bird... I couldn't do anything, he just... caught fire."  
"About time too. Fawkes has been looking dreadful for days." the Headmaster said softly "Pity you had to see him on a Burning Day. He's really very handsome most of the time."  
"He's a Phoenix, Harry." Elizabeth said, seeing Harry's confused look "Phoenixes burst into flame when it's time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes. See?"

Harry looked to the plate underneath the perch, where a pile of steel coloured ashes sat. Suddenly, the ashes swirled and a tiny bird's head poked out its head, blinking through the dust. Elizabeth smiled.

"Fascinating creatures, phoenixes." Dumbledore continued, sitting down at his desk "They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets."

Just then, a panting Hagrid burst through the door, holding another dead rooster.

"It wasn't Harry an' Elizabeth, professor Dumbledore!"  
"Hagrid-"  
"I was talkin' to 'em just before that kid was found. It can't've been 'em!"  
"Hagrid-"  
"I'll swear ter it in fronf o' the Minister o' Magic-"  
"HAGRID!" Dumbledore interrupted "I do not think that either Harry or Elizabeth has attacked anyone."  
"Oh... right. I'll wait outside then."

As Hagrid exited the office, both kids looked hopefully towards their Headmaster.

"You don't think it was us, Professor?" Liz asked  
"No, Elizabeth. But I must ask you two... Is there anything you'd like to tell me? Anything at all?"

Both Harry and Elizabeth debated whether to say anything. Finally, Harry declined and exited, sending Elizabeth a half smile. She, on the other hand, stayed behind hoping to get some answers out of the old man.

"Yes, Miss Granger?"  
"Sir... How is it I can speak Parseltongue?"  
"Curious and inquisitive... No wonder the sorting hat almost put you in Ravenclaw." the Headmaster said contemplatively  
"Yes, well... I was the one who asked not to put me in there which-"  
"Which is why you were put in Slytherin."  
"Clearly, but what I don't understand is why a _Muggle-born_ can speak _Parseltongue_." Elizabeth questioned, sitting on a chair in front of Albus Dumbledore's desk "I mean, my sister can't do it... Yet I can..."

Ellie could have sworn something glint in the man's eyes. A glint she only saw in the Weasley twins' eyes when they thought of a new prank, something mischievous. Which made sense since his reply was very cryptic.

"It matters not what you can do now, Elizabeth. What matters is how and why it came to be..."


	26. Invading the Slytherins

Elizabeth watched each footfall sink into the crystalline snow as she made her way to through the courtyard alongside her sister, Harry and the three decent Weasleys (Percy was a prick according to Liz). Glancing upward it was easy to tell that were it not for this brilliant blanket at her feet the day would seem overcast and dim, for the sky was a tad grey. The naked winter trees lined the courtyard and the castle. All the students' breath rose in visible puffs to join the sky. There was a freezing chill in the air that brought crispness to the leaves, bejeweled with frost, that crunched underfoot. Rosy cheeked, they all stamped away to keep warm, pulling woollen hats over their reddened ears and tightening scarves over pink cheeks.

The Christmas holidays had arrived slower than Liz and Harry would have liked. Hopefully after the break, students would forget about the whole 'Heir of Slytherin' thing and go back to normal. Unfortunately, the two were still getting odd stares and glares from other houses or their own. What didn't help either, was the fact that Harry and Elizabeth's friends were all taking this so lightly. Especially, Fred and George. Mind you, it did make Liz laugh.

"Make way for the Heirs of Slytherin!" Fred called as he passed the quartet "Seriously evil wizards coming through!"  
"Shut up, Frederick." Elizabeth chuckled as she rolled her eyes playfully

Ron grinned, but Harry didn't.

"Oh, c'mon, Harry. Fred's just having a laugh." Ron said  
"He's the only one." the boy replied glumly  
"No, I'm laughing." Liz smiled "And I'm in the same shit as you, kiddo."  
"Yeah! I mean, so what half the school thinks you two are nipping off to the Chamber of Secrets every night. Who cares?"  
"Maybe they're right."  
"Harry!" Hermione and Elizabeth reproached simultaneously  
"I didn't know I could speak Parseltongue. What else don't I know about myself? Maybe you can do something... even something horrible... and not know you did it."  
"Harry, I'm in the same shit hole as you are. Do you see me moping about, taking out my anger on everyone else?" Ellie complained, waving her arms dramatically, for effect "Besides, you don't believe that, Harry. I know you don't."  
"If it makes you feel better, I just heard Malfoy's staying over for the holiday, too." Hermione added  
"Why would that make anyone feel better?" Ron asked, causing Liz and Harry to chuckle  
"I think what Hermione's trying to say is that, in a few days, the Polyjuice potion will be ready. In a few days... we may truly know who the Heir of Slytherin is."

* * *

The Great Hall was lit with candles as per usual. Warm, dry flakes of glittering snow fell from the enchanted ceiling and onto the four House tables. Twelve towering Christmas trees were spaced around the Hall and real live fairies flew around them, sprinkling fairy dust. Everlasting icicles hung from the banisters of the Grand Staircase and from doorways. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung on the walls and from the middle of the ceiling in different rooms. The suits of armour in the halls of the castle had been charmed to sing a different Christmas carol each time you stepped into the room, and even if all this was done for one holiday, most people chose to go home. Understandable; it was a time for family and friends. But this year, Harry, Liz, Hermione and Ron were staying at Hogwarts for purely... academic reasons.

Elizabeth was sitting alone at the Slytherin table, scarfing down turkey with gravy and cranberry sauce, large amounts of peas and heaping forkfuls of mash. As she took her last bite, the Golden trio walked into the Great Hall, whispering to each other. Liz took a large gulp of pumpkin juice and one last warm bun before walking over to the Gryffindor table. As she sat down, she took a large bite out of her bread and greeted her friends, her mouth clearly full.

"Honestly, Elizabeth." Hermione scolded  
"What? I'm hungry." her sister replied, her voice muffled by the bread in her mouth. She swallowed then continued "Plus, the food is fucking amazing."  
" _Language_!"  
"Yes, mother." Ellie sighed "Anyway, the potion's set. All you two need is a bit of whoever you're changing into."  
"Crabbe and Goyle." Harry answered  
"And we also need to make sure that the real Crabbe and Goyle can't burst in on us while we're interrogating Malfoy." Hermione reminded  
"How?" Ron asked as Elizabeth held up a pair of small cakes  
"I've got it all worked out. I've filled these with a Sleeping Draught. Simple, but powerful." Liz stated, then looked over at Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy, who were eating everything in sight "You know how greedy Crabbe and Goyle are. They won't leave the Christmas Feast until every last drop of trifle is gone."  
"Now, once they're asleep, hide them in a broom cupboard and pull out a few of their hairs." Hermione continued  
"And whose hair are you ripping out?" Ron asked  
"I've already got mine." the witch said, removing a small vile from her robes "Millicent Bulstrode."  
"She talks to anyone; even Malfoy. No one will suspect anything, trust me." Elizabeth specified as she and her sister rose from their seats "All right then... We're going to check on the Polyjuice potion. Make sure that Crabbe and Goyle find those cakes."

* * *

Elizabeth was hovering over her cauldron, adding the finishing touches to the severely complicated potion. She was wearing her school robes, and pointed to a Slytherin uniform for Hermione to wear. She had taken one of her uniforms; her and Hermione were the same size. Anyway, the uniform would have shrunk to her size. The older twin entered a cubicle and changed into the green and black robes, emerging with a frown on her face. Liz chuckled, telling her that she looked wonderful in a sarcastic tone of voice. It was obvious that Hermione didn't like wearing the serpent's uniform. Ellie just laughed and enjoyed the sight. After all, they were going to invade her sanctuary, her Hogwarts home and that, for the first time in seven centuries. A few minutes later, Harry and Ron entered the bathroom.

"Did you get it?" Hermione asked, causing Liz to look up from her potion

Harry and Ron both held up their hands, a small tuft of hair in each. Elizabeth smiled and pointed to two pairs of boy's Slytherin robes.

"Put those on. Got them from the boys' dorm."  
"Their dorm?" Ron asked, from a cubicle  
"Yeah, the laundry had just been done, so I stole a few uniforms from Malfoy and Zabini." Liz shrugged  
"So we're wearing their robes?" Harry said, tugging at 'his' uniform "Aren't Crabbe and Goyle a bit... bigger than them?"  
"Well, yeah, but the robes adjust automatically."  
"Really?" the Golden trio said, surprised  
"Don't yours?"  
"No!"  
"Oh..." Elizabeth said "Anyway, this grey mud is done and I'm one-hundred percent sure I've done everything right. It looks like the book said it should." the girl continued, comparing the potion to the image in the book "Once you've drunk it, you'll have exactly one hour before you change back into yourselves."  
"Now what?" Ron asked  
"We separate it into three glasses and add the hairs." Liz said nonchalantly, causing the three others to grimace

Elizabeth grabbed the small ladle she had placed next to her cauldron and poured a scoop into each small glass. The Slytherin witch handed one to each of her companions and they, in turn, added their hairs to their drink. Instead of staying grey, the three bits of potion turned into shades of yellow, brown and khaki.

"Ugh, essence of Crabbe..." Ron complained

Harry, Hermione and Ron then all nodded at each other and, in one big gulp, swallowed the whole of the drink. Ron immediately dropped his glass and ran for a toilet, complaining about being sick. Elizabeth's nose scrunged up in disgust, even though she was highly amused. Harry, looking sick, stepped over to a cracked sink while Hermione said nothing and simply ran to a cubicle. Liz turned around and stood next to Harry, watching his face bubble and contort into the thick features of Gregory Goyle. He brought his hands up to his face and looked over to Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth, you're brilliant!"  
"I know." she smiled cheekily  
"Harry?" Ron called

Harry, or Goyle, and Liz turned around to face Ron who now looked like Vincent Crabbe.

"Ron?" Harry asked  
"Bloody hell..."  
"You still sound like yourselves. You need to sound more like Crabbe, Ron." Elizabeth noted  
"Bloody hell." Ron corrected  
"Lower."  
"Bloody hell."  
"Okay, now, less intelligent." Liz chuckled  
"Bloody hell." Ron said, sounding very dumb  
"Hey... Where's Hermione?"  
"I- I don't think I'm going. You go on without me." she called from the cubicle  
"Mione, are you okay?" Elizabeth asked  
"Just go! You're wasting time!"  
"Yes, m'mam!"

Liz dragged "Crabbe" and "Goyle" out of the abandoned bathroom, making sure there was no one in sight. She lead them towards the damp staircase to the dungeons and they hurried down, Harry and Ron's heavy steps echoing in the basement of the castle. As they walked quickly, Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stopped Harry's arms.

"Don't swing your arms like that. Crabbe holds them sort of stiff." she said and Harry corrected "Better."

The three continued down the dark hall and turned a corner, but slowed down when they heard footsteps ahead. Seconds later, Percy Weasley appeared, his shiny Prefect's badge gleaming in the torchlight.

"What are you doing here?" Ron, as Crabbe, asked in his normal voice

Percy squinted, obviously confused by the sound of the boy's voice. Harry elbowed him in the ribs. Elizabeth crossed her arms and stuck out her hip, visibly irked that _Percy Weasley_ was in the Dungeons.

"I happen to be a Prefect."  
"Yeah, sure." Liz scoffed "Go guard the Fat Lady, _Weasley_."  
" _You_ , on the other hand," Percy glared back "have no business wandering the corridors at night."

Harry and Ron nodded, afraid to speak whereas Elizabeth merely rolled her eyes.

"What were your names again?" the Prefect asked the two boys, perfectly aware who the girl was  
"Crabbe, Goyle?" Draco Malfoy spoke from behind Percy "What are you doing with Granger?"  
"Your two knob bodyguards have been pigging out in the Great Hall again." Liz answered "I dragged them back here so they wouldn't lose us any more points."

Malfoy looked wearily at Elizabeth, obviously conflicted. He hadn't spoken to her since she was dubbed the Heir of Slytherin which, in his mind, made no sense since she was Muggle-born. Whatever he might have thought, Draco Malfoy wasn't supposed to be seen with her anyway. But he missed annoying her. Seeing her cheeks turn red in frustration or even hearing her exasperated laugh when she was beyond irritated. Draco broke his gaze with the witch and glanced witheringly toward the Gryffindor Prefect.

"And what are you doing down here, _Weasley_?"  
"Mind your attitudes Malfoy, Granger. You want to show a little respect to a school Prefect!"  
"Come on. Weasley thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's Heir single-handed." Malfoy sneered, earning a breathy scoff from Elizabeth

With Percy fuming, the four "Slytherins" walked past him and headed toward the Common Room. Elizabeth walked beside Malfoy while "Crabbe" and "Goyle" followed closely behind, afraid of getting lost or left alone which would lead to getting lost. When they came upon the entryway, Malfoy's eyebrow's furrowed for a second before uttering _Pureblood_ to the wall. Liz glanced sideways and saw a confused Ron and Harry. Suddenly, their expressions brightened as they saw the whole-in-the-wall appear. Malfoy went inside first, then Elizabeth, then the two other boys. The young witch immediately went to the bookshelf beside the fireplace and grabbed a book, then flopped down on the sofa nearest to the fire. Malfoy slumped beside her and grabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet he had left there that morning. "Crabbe" and "Goyle" awkwardly sat down and stayed silent. Suddenly, Malfoy snickered and sat up straight.

"Listen to this..." he began "' _Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car. "Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," said Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately_."'

Grinning, Draco looked over his paper and at the disguised Harry and Ron. He frowned, confused at their behaviour; the both of them seemed irritated, angry even. He then looked back down at his paper, his frown only getting bigger. He didn't want to say the rest in front of Elizabeth.

"Granger, you mind leaving?"  
"Yeah, I do actually." Liz said, not looking up from her book of advanced spells  
"Fine. Suit yourself." the boy snapped, then turned back to "Crabbe" and "Goyle" "Arthur Weasley loves Muggle so much he should snap his wand in half and go join them. You'd never know the Weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave. Embarrassment to the wizarding world. All of them."  
"I wouldn't say all of them." Liz replied nonchalantly "Percy _is_ a prick, though."

Suddenly, Ron, still disguised as Crabbe, growled, insulted at both the Slyhterins' comments. Harry suddenly elbowed him, to which Malfoy responded with a surprised look.

"What's wrong with you, Crabbe?"  
"Stomachache." Ron replied in a low, dumb voice  
"Well, go to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick in the arse for me! You know, I'm surprised The Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father always said Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place."  
"Elizabeth is right there!" Harry shouted  
"I don't give a shit, Goyle." Liz said sternly, glaring at Harry "I'm used to it."

Draco, an almost pained look on his face, gazed over at Elizabeth who looked unfazed by all his insults. However, he knew how she felt. Her roommates were probably the girls with the biggest mouths for gossip in the whole school. So when Liz would come into her dorm crying, the next morning everyone would know.

"Anyway, since when do _you_ like Dumbledore?" Liz continued  
"What? Did you say that I was wrong?" Malfoy gasped, turning his attention back to Ron and Harry "You think there's someone here who's worse than Dumbledore?"

Harry thought for a second.

"Harry Potter?"  
"Good one, Goyle." Malfoy grinned "You're absolutely right. _Saint Potter_. He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that Mud- other Granger." he corrected himself "And people actually think _he's_ the Heir of Slytherin." he scoffed "And to think that people think you're the Heir of Slytherin, as well, Granger!"  
"Wait." Liz said, her jade eyes finally un-sticking themselves from the pages of her book "You're actually on my side, for this?"

Elizabeth had truthfully never seen Draco blush. He was always stoic, in charge and to be honest, annoyingly self assured. So when she saw that pink in his cheeks she knew something serious was afoot. But, when the answer never came, Harry, or Goyle, spoke up.

"Then you must have some idea who's behind it all?"  
"You really are stupid, aren't you, Gregory?" Liz sighed, tearing her gaze from the blond's  
"You know I haven't, Goyle. How many times do I have to tell you?" he said, annoyed "But my father did say this much: It's been fifty years since the Chamber was opened. He wouldn't tell me who opened it - only that they were expelled - but I know-"  
"Yes, yes, a Muggle-born died." Ellie groaned "You've only said it about twenty times."  
"So it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time. As for me... I hope it's the other Granger."  
" _Seriously_!? I'm right here, you prat!"  
"Sorry..." Malfoy smiled sheepishly causing Liz to roll her eyes "Hey, what is wrong with you two!?"

Harry and Ron were both standing, the former holding the latter back as if he were about to punch the blond Slytherin. Suddenly, Liz's eyes went wide as she saw Harry's scar start to appear on Goyle's forehead. Ron noticed as well, just as the top of his head began to turn orange again. Without another second to wait, the two boys jumped off the sofa and dashed out of the Common Room, leaving a confused Malfoy and a stunned Elizabeth behind.

"Hey! Where are you two going!?" Draco called  
"Don't ask. They'd have to think and it might hurt them." Liz chuckled, going back to her book  
"Very funny." the boy said sarcastically then paused "Yet true."  
"You know, you still haven't answered my question."  
"What question?"  
"You really don't think I'm the Heir of Slytherin?" Elizabeth asked, a hopeful glint in her eyes  
"Of course not. You're a _Mudblood_." Draco smirked  
"And here I thought you were going to say something nice." Ellie chuckled  
"Why would he?" a nasally voice sounded behind her. _Pansy Parkinson_  
"Because I'm a sensible human being?"

Elizabeth laughed. Parkinson growled at her.

"You shouldn't be talking to that _Mudblood_ , Drakey."  
"Pansy, don't call her that."  
"But you-"  
"You're not me. Don't call her that."  
"Okay, this is a wonderful conversation... that I don't want to be a part of." Ellie said, raising from the sofa and heading to her dorm, only to be blocked by Pansy "Seriously?"  
"Yes, seriously." she smirked, crossing her arms

Elizabeth scoffed and rolled her eyes, attempting to pass by. But when Parkinson followed her movements and prevented her from moving forward, the jade eyed girl had enough and extended her arms, hit Pansy's shoulders and knocked her off her feet. The girl fell on her backside with a thud, allowing the youngest Granger to walk by, her robes gently billowing behind her. The last thing Elizabeth heard was the sound of Malfoy's laughter and Pansy complaining.

"Drakeypoo, this isn't funny!"


	27. The Diary Of

It turned out that Hermione took cat hair from Millicent's robes, not human hair. Therefore, she had morphed into a giant cat. A cute cat, but a cat nonetheless. Obviously, Elizabeth being well, Elizabeth, she laughed, much to Harry, Ron and her sister's dismay. She had been taken to the hospital wing immediately. Madam Pomfrey's gasp could have been heard throughout every hall in the castle. The matron had insisted on telling professor McGonagall, Hermione's head of house, but after much convincing on Liz, Ron and Harry's part, she agreed to hush it up. But something didn't want to be hushed up. Ron was still mad about Ellie and Malfoy's comments about his brother Percy, and he wasn't letting her off the hook. Even after the holidays, the ginger was still mentioning it.

"Why did you say my brother was a prick, again?" Ron said, Harry trailing behind him  
"Well, because he is." the Slytherin said simply  
"Sure he's a bit stuck up-"  
"A bit? Ron, no offense to you or the rest of your family, but Percy is the biggest prat in school. He thinks he's so much better than everyone with his stupid prefect's badge."  
"It's scary how much you sound like Malfoy, right now." Harry noted  
"I'm voicing my opinion." Ellie shrugged "It's not my fault if Malfoy and I have the same one."  
"Granger!" a voice shouted from behind  
"Speak of the Devil." Liz said and spun around "Can I help you?"  
"Have you seen Crabbe and Goyle? Haven't seen them since the feast." Draco said, out of breath as he was running to catch up  
"How should _I_ know?"  
"You know everything." the boy chuckled  
"Of course." Elizabeth replied smugly "They're probably passed out in a broom cupboard or still eating someplace."

Malfoy nodded and sneered at her company.

"Out of the way, _Potter_ , _Weasley_." Malfoy replied shoving through the two boys "I'll save you a spot in Charms, but move your arse, Ella!"  
"I'm coming, don't worry!"

It was silent for a moment. Harry and Ron, an eyebrow raised, each, stared at Elizabeth. Sensing that she was being watched, the young brunette turned around.

"Ella?" Harry said snidely as the young blond went out of sight  
"What?" Elizabeth said defensively, turning a corner  
"Since when are you two talking? I thought you two hated each other." Ron pointed out  
"We had a talk."  
"When?"  
"None of your business. Now if you don't mind I have a class to go to."

* * *

A few weeks had passed and Elizabeth's second year was going much better than before the holidays. She was doing well in Charms and Transfiguration where she was learning memory charms and how to turn a bird into a goblet, respectively. In potions, Elizabeth was excelling in everything ranging from the Sleeping Draught to the Hair-Raising potion. History of Magic was hell, as usual, and Astronomy was still boring. Regarding academics, Elizabeth Rose Granger was near-perfect.

When it came to other things, namely everything regarding the Chamber of Secrets, people hadn't seemed to lessen up on the weary glances, accusing glares and frightful looks. Ellie was still the Heir of Slytherin in their eyes, unfortunately for her. At least one-less person was accusing her. Draco Malfoy, with the only shred of decency he had, told Elizabeth that he believed her. Which was surprising for both her and the two boys that were with her that night.

Hermione was still in the hospital wing, the only cat part of her left being the tail. She sent Ron, Harry and Liz to the library constantly to fetch more books for her to study. Today was no exception. Staggering under the weight of dozens of library books in their arms, the three friends made their way to Hermione's bed in the hospital wing which, unsurprisingly, was covered in books.

"Oh, good." she said cheerily "Put those anywhere."

The three students looked around. There was no "anywhere", so Elizabeth just dropped the books loudly on the floor. The boys soon mimicked.

"Madam Pince asked that we relay a message to you, Hermione: She'd appreciate it if you'd ' _leave a few books for the rest of the school_.'" Ron said, collapsing into a chair  
"I've got to keep up, haven't I?" came her response  
"You've got me and my notes, Mione." Elizabeth said, sitting cross legged on a pile of books  
"Your notes are _way_ too abridged, Lizzie. Besides, what you call notes, I call chaos."  
"Hey, everything's there. It's not my fault you don't understand my abbreviations."  
"Is that thing ever going to go away?" Ron asked as Hermione's tail came into view  
"Any day now, according to madam Pomfrey. I'm just glad I've stopped coughing up hair balls."  
"We all are." Ron noted, slightly disgusted  
"Now. The Chamber of Secrets; any new leads?"  
"Nothing." Harry sighed  
"And has it gotten any better?" the older Granger asked "I mean... is anyone speaking to you?"  
"Well, Neville asked to borrow a tubeworm in Potion's yesterday." Harry shrugged "I guess that's a start."  
"Draco's talking to me again. Not that you three care." Liz sighed, grabbing something she saw underneath her sister's pillow. A get-well-soon card "' _To Miss Granger. Wishing you a speedy recovery, from your concerned teacher Gilderoy Lockhart_.' EW!" Ellie shouted throwing the card at Ron as if it were poisonous "You sleep with that under your pillow?"  
"Of course not. I don't know how that got there." Hermione blushed, letting Liz know she was lying "Now go. I still have six hundred pages to read in Transformation Through the Ages!"

Ron, Harry and Elizabeth exited the Hospital Wing and walked silently down the corridor until Ron spoke.

"I know Hermione's mental, but can you believe she falls for that smarmy nonsense of Lockhart's?"

The three students suddenly stopped, looking down. Their feet were deep in water that ran trough the whole hallway and into the abandoned girls' bathroom. Myrtle could be heard wailing in the distance.

"Damn..." Ellie said, sprinting towards the bathroom  
"Looks like Myrtle's flooded the bathroom." Harry noted as he and Ron followed closely behind

Huge, wracking moans echoed off the dreary tile and stone. All the taps were running, streaming like tiny waterfalls. As Harry, Elizabeth and Ron stepped to the last cubicle, Myrtle spun accusingly, her glare only softening when she saw her friend.

"Come to throw something else at me? Not you Elizabeth, of course."  
"Why would I throw something at you?" Harry asked  
"Don't ask me. Here I am, minding my own business and someone thinks it's funny to throw a book at me..." Myrtle states  
"But it can't hurt if someone throws something at you. I mean, it'd just go right through you, wouldn't it?" Ron reasoned  
" _Ronald Weasley_!" Elizabeth scolded  
"Oh sure! Let's all throw books at Myrtle, because she can't feel it! Ten points if you can get it through her stomach. Fifty points if it goes through her head!"  
"Who threw it at you anyway?" Harry questioned  
"I don't know. I didn't see them. I was just sitting in the U-bend, thinking about death and it fell through the top of my head." Myrtle replied, sobbing lightly

Harry sent her an awkward smile and looked down. He bent over and picked up a small black book. As the three began to head out, Ron complained about Myrtle causing her to scream again. The friends dashed out of the bathroom just quick enough to avoid being splashed by the ghost's flooding. As they walked, the raven-haired boy and the brunette examined the book.

"This is a diary... and it's old."  
"Very old." Liz corrected "Look at the wear and tear on the spine."  
"It's a diary, it's old... and was most recently in a toilet, you two." Ron commented

Liz grabbed it from Harry's hand and glared at Ron before beginning to open it. The ginger placed his hand on hers to prevent her from doing it.

"Are you mad? That could be cursed. Dad once told me about a book the Ministry confiscated that burned the eyes out of anyone who tried to read it."  
"I'll take my chances, thanks." Ellie said, then opened the book "AH, MY EYES, MY EYES!"

Ron and Harry both froze, terrified, when the Slytherin girl grinned, ending the ruse. Harry playfully punched her shoulder, causing Liz to chuckle and Ron to sigh in relief. At the end of corridor, Ginny stood, looking from the diary to Harry to Elizabeth - utter terror on her face - then dashed off. Liz frowned.

"Ginny! I was only joking - Brilliant. Even your sister thinks I'm the monster now."  
"Who doesn't?" Ron replied

Ron frowned suddenly, looking at the little black book. On the first page on the diary, embossed letters spelled out a name: Tom Marvolo Riddle.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle? Hang on. I know that name..." he said, thinking "Oh, of course! The night I had detention... My job was to polish the silver in the trophy room. I remember because I kept burping slugs all over Tom Riddle's trophy. I must have wiped slime off his name for an hour."  
"Gross, Ron." Harry's lip curled in disgust

Elizabeth looked back down at the black diary and fanned the pages. They were blank. Tom Marvolo Riddle had never written in it...


	28. I Can Show You

"Tom Riddle... Hm. And Ron said he won an award fifty years ago?"  
"' _Special Service to the School_ ' or something..."

Ron, Harry and Elizabeth, after her little prank, had went back to see Hermione. Surely she'd know something. As the trio walked back to the hospital wing, Liz noticed something on the inside of the diary's cover. It was an address, embossed in gold just like Tom Riddle's name. Hermione carefully examined the diary with her sister and friends sitting all around her in the silent room.

"Fifty years ago? You're sure?" she asked  
"No, we're not sure. We just thought we'd tell you anything so you'd think we were bonkers." Liz said sarcastically with a signature eye roll  
"Liz, don't you remember? Malfoy said that the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened was-"  
"Fifty years ago!" Harry gasped "Liz you even said Malfoy wouldn't shut up about it; you heard him."  
"I may have heard him, doesn't mean I remembered." Elizabeth sighed "Or cared."  
"Tom Riddle was here, at Hogwarts, when it happened." Hermione said, ignoring her sister "What if he wrote about what he saw? It's possible he knew where the Chamber was, how to open it, even what sort of creature lives in it. If so, whoever's behind the attacks this time wouldn't want a diary like this lying around, would they?"  
"That's a brilliant theory, Hermione." Ron said " With just one tiny little flaw. There's nothing written in this diary."  
"It might be invisible ink." the girl said, pulling out her wand "Aparecium!"

Hermione tapped the diary three times. Nothing happened. Elizabeth grabbed the book and leafed through it and saw that there was still no writing in it. Harry came over to her and peeked over her shoulder and saw the same thing she did. The two of them sighed.

"I don't know, Harry, Lizzie." the older twin piped up "But I think you two should be careful with this. Something tells me Ron might be right. It could be dangerous."  
"You don't think we're dangerous, do you, Hermione?" Harry asked, which, Liz and him both thought "I mean, you're not scared... of us."  
"I'm scared, Harry. But not of you."

* * *

Ron, Seamus and Neville were asleep in the boys' dormitory. Elizabeth and Harry were both awake in the Gryffindor Common Room, leafing through the empty diary. Liz was too lazy to go back to her dorm, so the raven-haired boy suggested she stayed in Hermione's bed since she was still stuck in the hospital wing with her cat tail. She would have slept if she wasn't fully awake. Of course the Gryffindors, the next morning, would be furious and so would their Head of House, but Elizabeth didn't give much of a damn, as she would say. Malfoy and professor Snape would be on her case as well, but again, she didn't care. All she cared about was what was bothering her: the diary. Why would someone go through all the trouble to buy an expensive notebook, but not write anything inside? Why did someone throw it at Myrtle? Why could she talk to snakes? Now that one still bothered her.

Why could she speak Parseltongue and not her sister? Actually, how could a muggle speak that language? A language that only a line of Pureblood Slytherins could speak. She was most definitely a Slytherin, but was she not a muggle? Was she not Hermione's sister and child to Mr and Mrs Granger? Nonsense. She'd been in the family ever since she was born. There were pictures to prove it. She and her sister were twins, there was photographic proof. Her parents' word as well. Yet the more she thought about it, the more she'd doubt. Elizabeth looked nothing like her parents or sister, all of them having ochre brown hair and coffee coloured eyes, whereas Liz sported jade green eyes and dark chocolate locks. Her parents were very uptight and strict, so was her sister on a bad day. The Slytherin was carefree and highly prideful. She didn't dress the same way as her sister, she didn't think the same way as her sister, she didn't even stand the same way as her twin sister. Fraternal twins or not, they just didn't fit.

Ellie was pulled out of her thoughts by Harry who shook her shoulder, a concerned glint in his bright green eyes. She just shrugged and looked back at the diary that was sitting there, laughing in her face. Suddenly, she got an idea. The girl picked up one of the quills on the table and opened the diary. She dipped the end of her quill in ink and hovered over the blank page. A drop fell onto the page, then, after a few seconds... it vanished. The young witch abruptly turned her head towards Harry, whose attention was grabbed by what had just happened. Another idea surged in her mind. She dipped the quill back into the ink bottle and began to write.

 **Hello, this is Elizabeth Granger and Harry Potter.**

The words blazed and quickly disappeared. And just when Liz thought it was a fluke, black ink came oozing out of the blank page forming another sentence.

 ** _Hello, Elizabeth Granger and Harry Potter. My name is Tom Riddle._**

Harry and Liz looked at each other again, scared and surprised. Decided, Elizabeth muttered as she wrote:

 **Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?**

Once again the words vanished and another set reappeared. Only this time the only thing there was a simple ' _yes_ '. Ellie dipped the quill again and continued.

 **Can you tell us?**

 ** _No._**

Both Harry and Elizabeth frowned, both sinking back into their seats. But suddenly, ink oozed from the page once more.

 ** _But I can show you._**

The two friends looked from the book to each other, intrigued. Suddenly, the pages of the book began to flutter wildly, causing the tips of Liz's locks to move. The parchment pages slowly stopped and on the corner of a page there was a date. 13th June. In the center of the book, where the pages are sewn in, a golden light shimmered like all the trinkets in Dumbledore's office. Harry and Elizabeth each grabbed one side of the book and inched it closer to their faces for closer inspection. Suddenly, as if they were being sucked through a tube, the two friends were pitched forward, spilling into a whirl of colour and shadow. After a few seconds, the two friends landed on their feet in a torch lit corridor. But it didn't look normal. Everything was de-saturated, save for Harry and Ella who were still in vivid colour. The two glanced about, disoriented, until their eyes fell upon a boy a few years older than they were, who was staring around the corner. A flurry of shadows appeared on the wall before the boy, unseen, revealing the presence of others in the adjoining room. As the two advanced, they heard low voices emanate from the shadows. As they reached the boy, Harry spoke in a soft whisper.

"Excuse me. Could you tell us where we are? ... Hello?"

The boy didn't respond, eyes staked to the activity in the adjoining room which Harry and Elizabeth both saw was the Entrance Hall. A group of elder witches and wizards - presumably Hogwarts Professors - talked amongst themselves, then abruptly went silent. Two younger wizards had entered the room, bearing stretchers.

"Riddle." a familiar voice said from behind

The boy in front of Harry and Elizabeth reeled, revealing a Slytherin crest on his robes. The two turned to face Dumbledore, only he was very much younger than when they last saw him. That's it! Tom, the boy who was now behind them, was showing Harry and Ella what happened fifty years ago!

"Professor Dumbledore." Tom said curtly  
"It is not wise to be wandering around this late, Tom." the professor said  
"Yes, Professor. I suppose I- I just had to see for myself if..." Riddle cut himself off and gazed back towards the stretchers "... if the rumours were true."  
"I'm afraid they are, Tom."  
"About the school as well? They wouldn't really close Hogwarts, would they Professor?"  
"Headmaster Dippet may have no choice, I'm afraid." Dumbledore said solemnly  
"Sir? If it all stopped. If the person responsible was caught..."  
"Is there something you wish to tell me, Tom?"  
"No, sir." Riddle said after a long pause "Nothing."

Dumbledore studied Tom Riddle for a short while. Surely Tom knew something. Any innocent person would have replied straight away. But what was Riddle hiding?

"Very well, then. Hurry along."

Dumbledore strode directly past Harry and Elizabeth, not seeing them. When he was gone, Riddle moved quickly, toward the dungeon steps. The two wizards of the present followed him down the familiar path. However, instead of going into the Common Room, Tom walked past the whole-in-the-wall and straight down to the end of the corridor where a splinter of light was escaping through a crack in the door. Riddle put his eye to the crack, spying on someone talking. Suddenly, he pushed the door clear out of his way. On the other side, Elizabeth and Harry saw a second, smaller room. Crouched by a box, was a huge boy. A young, yet still very large, Rubeus Hagrid. A strange clicking sound came from the box, so Liz walked past Tom so she could get a better look. But just as she approached it, it slammed shut. Tom then blast the door open with his wand, sending the creature scuttling away on its many legs. As Riddle tried to blow it up again, Harry and Elizabeth fell back into the whirl of colour and shadow and onto the floor of the Gryffindor Common Room. In a hurry, Liz sat upright and bolted towards the portrait hole, scared about what she just found out...


	29. The Granger Twins Have Done It Again

Elizabeth ran as fast as her legs could go. She ran on the tip of her toes, making the least amount of noise possible. The sleeping portraits would snore louder as she ran past, as if to cover for her and the ones who were awake would whisper amongst each other, probably about whether she'd get caught or not. Luckily, she didn't run into Peeves before she reached the stairs to the Dungeons. He would have made her presence known for sure. The young witch slowed down when she reached the stairs, her shoes clicking on the stone. She slinked across the near wall, her fingers playing at the cracks, stopping for a split second when she thought she heard something.

Arriving at the whole-in-the-wall, she said the password and began to enter. Unfortunately, Liz was stopped by a hand on her shoulder that pulled her back and pushed her away from the door. The rough hand lead her towards an office she knew all to well. The door automatically opened and shut when she was inside. Black billowing robes swiftly passed in front of her and her tall potions professor sat down at his chair. His hands firmly clasped together in front of him, Snape, almost inconspicuously, nodded towards the chair in front of his desk. Elizabeth wordlessly complied and sat, her hands pressed firmly on her lap and her eyes glued to her shoes.

"Miss Granger, is there a reason as to why you are out of bed... after curfew?"

Ella stayed silent. She _couldn't_ lie to him, nor did she _want_ to. She had nothing but respect for the man. But, was she really going to tell him that she was sucked into a diary and found out that Hagrid had possibly opened the Chamber of Secrets, fifty years ago? _Hell no_ , she thought. Her best option was to stay silent even though it would probably aggravate him more.

"Very well, Miss Granger. If you won't speak..." Snape drawled "detention. Friday, my classroom, 6PM sharp. Don't be late."  
"Of course Professor."

The Slytherin stood, avoiding her professor's eye. She knew that the look on her face would give her away. She turned on her heels, dark robes following her movement.

"Miss Granger."

Elizabeth's face scrunged up. _Damn_. Slowly she turned around to face her teacher. Anxiety, fear and confusion were present on her face. Snape definitely saw that. His eyebrows furrowed ever-so-slightly, a small look of apparent concern on his face.

"Is there anything... you wish to tell me?"

Elizabeth thought for a second. This was the same thing that Dumbledore had asked her and Harry the night they discovered the Hufflepuff kid and Sir Nicholas, both petrified. Of course Harry had said nothing, which Liz thought was stupid, but now she understood what he felt. _Conflict_. The girl blankly stared at her professor, multiple thoughts running through her mind. Thoughts about the fact she could speak to snakes, which the whole school knew, of course. Thoughts about Hagrid opening the Chamber of Secrets. Thoughts about Tom Riddle and his diary. Even thoughts about missing dinner on Friday. It was as if Snape was pulling these thoughts from her head through the eye-contact they were holding. Liz blinked a few times, pulling herself out of her trance and smiled meekly at her professor.

"No Sir. Nothing at all."

* * *

The next day, Elizabeth needed some time alone. Some time away from her sister especially, who was now getting more and more on her nerves. After she had learned that Ellie was getting detention with Snape, Hermione wouldn't stop asking if she was okay, she wouldn't stop worrying about what others said or thought of her and she wouldn't even let people talk to her if they looked at her a certain way. It was nice to see her care so much, but enough was enough. She felt as if she were being suffocated. Harry and Ron understood not to cross her, especially when she arched her eyebrow a certain way; they then knew to stop talking and let it go. Draco on the other hand wasn't as easily swayed. When push came to shove, he would shove.

Liz was in her usual spot: underneath her beech tree. Plucking away at her guitar, singing her version of Angel Eyes by the Jeff Healey Band, Elizabeth ignored every sound around her. Including the sound of approaching footsteps. The only time she stopped to listen to the things around her was when she was done singing her song. The stereotypical branch on the ground snapped, causing her to turn around and subsequently roll her eyes. _Draco Malfoy_. She turned back to her guitar and shrunk it, putting the instrument away.

"Are you stalking me?"  
"No, why?" Draco asked, amused  
"You always seem to be there when I sing." Liz chuckled  
"That's true. But it doesn't mean that I'm stalking you."

Draco sat down on the grass beside Elizabeth.

"Whatever you say, _Drakeypoo_." the girl chuckled  
"Shut it, _Mudblood_." the boy smiled  
"Watch your mouth, Malfoy." a voice said from behind

Both Malfoy and the younger Granger turned towards the sound and saw the Golden trio approaching. It was definitely Harry who had spoken seeing the glare he was sending Malfoy. The blond glared back, obviously, and stood to talk back but Liz got up and placed a hand on his shoulder. The boy's gaze flickered toward her and he stood down, seeing the look she was sending him.

"It's fine, Harry." Elizabeth said, grabbing her bag. She turned toward Malfoy as she began to walk away "I'll see you later, Draco."

The young wizard simply nodded, still glaring at Harry. Ron, Hermione, Elizabeth and the raven-haired boy all sauntered off across the grounds. No one spoke for a few seconds until the Slytherin couldn't bear the silence.

"Sorry, I ran off yesterday." she said quietly "I just... panicked."  
"It's fine. Not everyone's as brave as me." Harry said with a cheeky smile on his face, causing Liz to giggle  
"What're you two talking about? Oh, wait. Is this about what you two saw in the diary?" Ron asked, moving to the front beside Liz  
"You told them!?"  
"Of course I did, and yes, it's about that."  
"You ran off?" the ginger laughed  
"Slytherin, here. Self-preservation is kind of a thing in our house." the brunette said snidely  
"Who cares?" Hermione interrupted "It just _can't_ be Hagrid!"  
"We don't even know this... Riddle. He sounds like a dirty, rotten snitch to me."  
"The monster had killed someone, Ron. What would have any of us done?"  
"Look, Hagrid's our friend. Why don't we just ask him?" the older twin suggested  
"That'd be a cheerful visit." Ellie said sarcastically " _Hullo, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately_?"  
"Mad an' hairy? Wouldn' be talkin' 'bout me, now would yeh?"

The quartet spun around rapidly, all of them immediately looking guilty.

"No!" Ron, Harry and Hermione shout at the same time  
"Bloody idiots..." Liz breathed to herself

The half-giant looked at the three Gryffindors questioningly. Elizabeth, being the only one with a half-decent brain at that moment, noticed a canister that Hagrid was holding. _Time to change the subject_ , she thought.

"Whats that you've got, Hagrid?"  
"Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent!" the man replied "Fer the Mandrakes, yeh know. Accordin' ter Professor Sprout, they still got a bit o' growin' up ter do, but once their acne clears up, we'll be able to chop 'em up, stew 'em, an' get those people in the hospital un-Petrified. 'Til then, you four best watch yerselves, all righ'?"

The four students nodded and watched Hagrid lope away. Just then, Neville came running up. He looked pale with fright and his complexion got worse when he saw Elizabeth. She never really cared for Neville, her main reason being that the boy was terrified of her favourite professor and just because he annoyed her in general. One time, Fred and George had finally decided to prank their _Slytherin Princess_. But as cunning and as smart she was, she managed to get Neville caught in it instead of her. Apparently he didn't like it very much.

"Harry, I don't know who did it, but... you'd better come."

The five children rushed to the Gryffindor Common Room. After a few moments of hesitation about whether to let Elizabeth in, Harry said the password and shoved the Slytherin inside before Neville could protest. They all ran up the stairs and into the boys' dorm, where they say a most alarming sight. Harry's side of the room looked worst than the First World War. His trunk was upside down, its contents dumped all over the room. All his drawers were opened and empty, save an empty box of Every Flavour Beans. His bed sheets were strewn all over the floor and all his books were thrown across the room in a chaotic fashion.

"Damn..."  
"It had to be a Gryffindor. No one else knows the password." Hermione reasoned  
"Except _her_!" Neville shouted pointing at Liz  
"Oh yeah, 'cause it's in my nature to ransack my best friend's bedroom." the girl replied snidely, glaring at the boy  
"Well, whoever it was, they were looking for something." Ron noted  
"And they found it... Tom Riddle's diary is gone."

* * *

The week had gone terribly for the Golden Trio. Harry still couldn't find the diary that was stolen from his room, Ron had gotten hexed by his own wand again and Hermione seemed to be spending more time in the library than with her friends. Liz was doing better than she expected, however. She had had some time alone since everyone was so busy. She got to play, and win, a game of Quidditch against Ravenclaw. It helped that half the team was terrified she was going to petrify them if they crossed her. Which she would have done had she been the Heir of Slytherin. Elizabeth also got through her detention with Snape rather well. He merely told her what to do and when she was done, was free to go. Unfortunately, the leeches didn't agree with her first thing she did was go to the Great Hall and stuff her face full of mash, orange-scented carrots and about a dozen mini mince pies.

The following week, it was a Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff Quidditch game and Hermione, Ron and Elizabeth were all going to cheer for Harry. The four friends dashed down the hall all clad in red and gold (Hermione had leant a few items to her sister), slowing down only when going down stairs, which they were now doing. Down below was Ginny Weasley, looking as panicked as she did usually.

"Hey, Ginny!" her brother called "Going to the match?"

The ginger girl looked up, startled and shook her head. She then exited the corridor and entered a classroom. Ron sighed.

"I tell you, she gets weirder and weirder by the day..."  
" _Kill this time... Let me rip... Tear_."

Harry and Elizabeth both froze, the latter almost falling off the stairs and flat on her face. Hermione and Ron stopped as well and looked over at the two, knowing what was going on just by their faces.

"No... don't tell me..." Ron sighed

Harry and Liz turned, as if following the sound, the Slytherin absently touching her fingers to the wall as the two of them glanced around. Hermione studied her with great interest - studied her fingers - then, abruptly, the two students turned away, shaking their heads. The sound was gone. Hermione looked up, eyes vaguely upon her sister, but her mind miles away. It was overthinking again.

"Harry, Lizzie... I think I've just understood something!" she gasped "I have to go to the library! Come on, Liz!"  
"Wait! What?" Elizabeth protested, as she was dragged away by her sister "But, Quidditch!"  
"Who needs those silly sports when I think I've found the solution to your problem?"  
"Since when do I have a problem?" the jade-eyed girl joked  
"Stop mucking about, Elizabeth. I think I know what you're hearing!"  
"A snake?"

Hermione suddenly stopped and stared blankly at her sister.

"How'd you know?"  
"Lucky guess." Elizabeth smirked  
"Sure. But it's not just any snake." Hermione said, as she continued to walk toward the library "I think it's a Basilisk."  
"A _BASILISK_!?"  
"Yes, calm down. I'll show you."

The twins bolted down the hall like Olympic champions at the start gun, ignoring the protests coming from floating ghosts and students that Elizabeth rammed into (Hermione apologized for her). They quickened their pace to an all out sprint as the library doors came into sight, slowing down when _Gitroy Lockfart_ came into sight. The slapping noise of the girls' dress shoes resonated in the corridor with a clanging echo. Hermione quietly opened the door and dashed to the back of the library, returning to a confused Elizabeth with a giant leather-bound book. The two of them sat on the same side of a table, facing the window for extra light, and began to rapidly leaf through the book. Suddenly, spotting something, Elizabeth smacked her hand between two pages to stop her sister from turning any more.

"Here - oh, shut it, Pince - " Elizabeth complained "' _Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents._ '"  
"Which explains why you and Harry can hear it." Hermione noted  
"' _This snake, which may reach gigantic size, and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad. Its methods of killing are most wondrous, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death_.' But wait, no one's died yet."  
"That's true, bu-"  
"No one's looked directly at it! That's why everyone gets petrified and not killed!" Liz gasped, earning another shush from Madam Pince "Mrs Norris... probably saw its reflection in the water."  
"Justin Finch-Fletchley. He... saw it through his camera! But what about that Hufflepuff-"  
"He saw it through Nearly Headless Nick, and well, he can't really die again now can he?"  
"Brilliant, Lizzie!" Hermione smiled "What does the rest say?"  
"' _Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it._ '"  
"That explains all of the dead roosters Hagrid's been finding, and all the spiders that were leaving each victim of petrification."  
"Spoken like a true scholar, Mione." Ella chuckled, earning a playful glare from her sister "One problem."  
"What is it?" Hermione questioned  
"How the hell is it getting around?"

The thought trundled through her brain like a train with no intention of stopping. Her gaze on her sister became unfocused, causing Hermione's features to muddle into a brown and grey blur. How could a giant, slithering reptile makes its way throughout the school without being heard or seen? The floors? No. Could it fly around? Definitely not. The walls...

"The pipes!" the two sister's shouted together, causing the librarian to drop the books she was carrying  
"Oh, God, does that mean I've been shitting on that thing for a year!?" Elizabeth cried, her eyes wide  
" _Elizabeth Rose Granger_!" Hermione scolded  
"Out! Out, out, out!" Madam Pince shouted from the other side of the room

Hermione quickly stood up and began to leave, but stopped when she didn't hear her sister following. She turned around and her eyes went wide. Liz had ripped out a section of the page and was writing on it. She quickly stood up and slammed the book shut, making Pince shout again, and pulled her sister out of the room.

"What were you thinking? Ripping out a page in the book and then writing on it!?"  
"I'm going to give this to the boys; they're definitely not going to memorize this."  
"Fair point." the older twin conceded "Now what?"  
"I guess we-"  
" _Blood... I smell blood... Let me kill you... Purge._ "  
"What is it, Liz? Can you hear it?"

Elizabeth nodded and strained her hearing, following a low whisper running through the walls. Suddenly, the low whisper turned into a loud hiss. The Slytherin tensed immediately, whereas Hermione quietly moved forward and reached into her sister's bag, hoping to find something of use for what she wanted to do. Her hand grasped a cold object and, raising it out of the bag, gave her sister a questioning look. Who carried a mirror in their bag? Elizabeth Granger, of course. Both girls glued to the wall, Hermione, with Elizabeth attached to her shoulders, scared out of her mind, slowly stretched out her arm and turned the mirror towards herself. The two slowly moved forward, their gazes locked onto their reflection, until the mirror looked into the perpendicular corridor. And with a flash of yellow... everything went black.


	30. My Apologies

Hey, guys! I'm sorry that I haven't updated in ages, but I have a reason. Trust me.

The reason why I'm not updating here is because I don't like

I've been updating my stories on this website called "Quotev" and the formatting and editing of stories is way better and easier to do. Unfortunately for the Fanfiction community, you won't be hearing from me again. I sincerely apologize for this, but I can't stand this website.

If you're really into my stories and wish to read more, go to iamtonystark

There you'll find my stories "Humanity's Prisoner" (Supernatural fanfiction) and "Mischief" (Harry Potter [Golden Trio Era] fanfiction). I've also started a Marauders Era fanfiction called "The Trickster" if you'd like to check it out. The great thing about Quotev is that it's not only for fanfictions, but also for original stories like the one I'm currently writing called "Castaways". It's a fantasy-based story set in a Post-Apocalyptic world.

Once again, I'm terribly sorry to just announce this so blunty, but it had to be done.

Yours truly, Stark and Andy (my name on Quotev)

xoxox


	31. Petrified

****I've had so many people ask me to continue writing my fanfiction on here, and received many emails dictating the same thing. Now, I'm not making any promises, but if I ever think of it or feel like it, I'll post a chapter here and there. Still, I'd prefer if you went to my page on Quotev and searched for me there (iamtonystark).****

 ****Yes, this is a short chapter, but I'll be posting the two next ones today as well, since all I have to do is copy and paste them from my other website.****

 **Stark Loves Deadpool**

* * *

She could only ever listen. She listened to the world go on around her as she lay motionless and stiff. Listened as Harry and Ron hovered over her bed, worried sick. Listened as Fred and George told her about all the pranks they'd let her pull with them, and all the pranks they were about to pull on Pansy Parkinson, just for her. Listened as Malfoy cursed loudly, pacing next to her bed, shouting profanities at whatever had done this to her. Swearing that he'd hex them into oblivion. Her eyes that were once gleaming with amusement were now vacant and dull, wide open but unable to see anything. Her glowing pale skin was now waxy. The mouth that was so quick to spew sarcasm at anyone laid stiff and slightly agape, her expression of fear permanently on her face. Elizabeth listened as Millicent came to see her, crying and apologizing for ignoring her all this time. Listened as Madam Pomfrey bustled around the hospital wing, taking care of children, including her and her sister. Listened as someone calmly read to her.

She could feel everything. She could feel the bit of parchment in her hand getting pulled out without getting torn and silently hoped that it was Harry or Ron taking it so that they could figure out the same thing that she and Hermione had. She could feel the Weasley twins poking her sides, nose and forehead, trying to wake her up before the Matron shooed them away, cursing. Sometimes she could feel a stray hair or two being pushed away from her face and getting tucked being her ear. Once and a while, she'd feel the end of her bed sink and figured someone was sitting there, lost deep in thought, not a single word uttered. She could feel the tingling sensation in her limbs as they got more and more numb each day. She could feel her breathing slowing down, steadying just before it stopped completely.

Elizabeth was almost dead. Worse yet, she wasn't and couldn't do anything to stop the Basilisk that may kill in the near future...


	32. It Should Have Stayed in the Chamber

Rapid footsteps echoed through the corridor. Said footsteps accelerating into a light job, then into a run. They suddenly stopped and two large oak doors were pushed open by dainty and pale hands, nails covered in chipped silver polish. A large smile on her face, Elizabeth took a few steps into the Great Hall, her eyes landing immediately on Harry, Ron and Hermione, who had gotten out of the hospital wing before her. Dark Slytherin robes billowing behind her, Liz ran forward embracing Ron and Harry at the same time.

"You figured it out! You figured it out!" she squealed happily  
"With loads of help from you two." Ron smiled at her and her sister

Hermione and Ron sat down, beginning to chat avidly about something. Just as Elizabeth was leaving towards her table, Harry called her name, a solemn look on his face.

"I need to talk to you after the feast."  
"What about?"

Harry shook his head, signaling that now wasn't the time or place to discuss it. This made Elizabeth nervous. Why would Harry need to talk to her? She was just un-petrified for God's sake! Surely, he wouldn't put a damper on her mood unless he had to. This meant it was more serious than Liz would have liked it to be. The brunette nodded and made her way towards the Slytherin table. Malfoy immediate shoved Pansy out of the way and tapped the spot beside him for Elizabeth to sit at.

"Glad you're back, Ella." Draco smiled genuinely  
"Figured." the girl replied smugly, a knowing smirk on her face  
"What do you mean?"  
"' _Merlin's beard, Ella! I am going to hex the twat who did this to you into oblivion!_ '"  
"Oh... You could hear me?" the blond asked, a sheepish smile on his face  
"Every word."

A small dusting of pink reached the boy's pale face just as McGonagall tapped her spoon on her goblet, causing the whole Hall to instantly quiet down. Dumbledore rose to his feet.

"Before we begin our feast, let's give a round of applause to Professor Sprout and Madam Pomfrey, whose Mandrake Juice has been successfully administered to all those who had been petrified."

All the House tables equally burst into cheer, each of them having a fellow housemate petrified. According to Liz however, it seemed that the Gryffindors and Slytherins were the ones who cheered the most.

"Also, in the wake of recent events, as a school treat, all exams have been cancelled."  
"Bugger, I studied for nothing!" Elizabeth said  
"Shut it, Ella." Draco joked "How were you even supposed to study?"  
"I could still review things in my head."  
"Really?"  
"No."

The blond Slytherin rolled his eyes, causing Elizabeth to smile proudly. Suddenly, the Great Hall doors opened, revealing Hagrid. Everyone, especially the Gryffindors, cheered. Liz had no idea why. She and Harry were the only ones who knew anything about him. Maybe something happened while she was petrified. The half-giant went up to the staff table and as soon as he sat down, knocking over a few goblets, the End-of-Term Feast appeared on the House tables. Turkey, chicken, beef and pork were all piled on Elizabeth's plate. She literally hadn't eaten in weeks. After the meat and bread, a whole array of veggies was added to the girl's stomach as well as a few cupcakes and pumpkin pasties for dessert. The jade-eyed girl ignored all the disgusted looks from Zabini, Parkinson and Greengrass, and continued eating only slowing down to sip on pumpkin juice. Malfoy and Millicent would only smile, grateful that she was back and eating just as much as she used to. Everything was back to normal... Or was it?

Elizabeth and Draco made their way to Hogsmeade station, ready to board the train back home. He had explained everything that happened after she was petrified and had said their goodbyes beforehand, since Liz was going to sit with her sister, Harry and Ron. With Aslan securely in his cage, the youngest Granger sat at the far end of an empty compartment and waited for her sister and friends to join her. Harry entered the compartment first, saying that Hermione and Ron weren't too far behind. It was quiet for a moment. As the girl placed her cat's cage up on the rack, she remembered what the raven-haired boy had said before the feast.

"What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Harry?" Elizabeth asked and sat down  
"When I was in the Chamber of Secrets... before the Basilisk came, Tom Riddle said something to me." the glasses-clad boy replied  
"Told you what?"  
"He told me something about you, Liz."  
"About _me_? What did he say about me?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat, making Liz furrow her eyebrows even more. Why would Tom Riddle, aka You-Know-Who, have something to say about her? Did this have to do with what she was worrying about the night she and Harry were launched inside the diary?

"At first, before he told me who he really was, he kept asking where you were, why you weren't there with me since you were the one who wrote in the diary." the boy paused "I told him you had been petrified... that really confused him."  
"Why would that confuse him? I'm a Muggle-born." Liz reasoned  
"That's just it Liz... He said you weren't."

* * *

 _That's just it, Liz... He said you weren't._

The sentence rang in her head like a gunshot going off next to your ear. It stuck in her head like chewing gum in your hair. It echoed in her mind like drops of water in a silent bathroom. Not a Muggle-born? _Bullocks_ , Elizabeth thought. There was proof she had been part of the family since birth. Or was there? There was proof that Hermione and her were twins. Or was there? There was only their parents' word. Could they have lied to her, to Hermione? _Outrageous_ , she thought. Why would they keep that a secret? Why wouldn't they tell her that she was adopted? Stolen? Abandoned then found? It had been twelve years... Surely they'd have told her by then.

Elizabeth spent most of the train ride in silence. Fred and George tried to get her to talk but she'd only smile politely and look back outside, lost deep in thought. Ron decided to throw candy and chocolate at her, which would usually work, but not this time. She still ate it though. Hermione tried to snap her out of it by letting Aslan out of his cage, but he only curled up on her lap and began to purr, hissing at whoever tried to touch Elizabeth. The Weasley twins soon left with Lee Jordan, off to prank Pansy Parkinson again. Obviously, when Hermione saw that Harry wasn't making an effort in trying to get Liz to talk, she just had to ask questions, which lead to the boy explaining what he had just told Elizabeth. Letting out a gasp, Hermione glanced rapidly between her sister and Harry, trying to find a rational explanation for what she had just heard. Ron was in a stunned silence, a licorice wand hanging out of his mouth. The older Granger slumped back into her seat, at a loss for words. Harry's news was troubling even the sharpest of minds...

Elizabeth was somewhat nervous when she saw her parents waiting for her at King's Cross Station. She hugged Ron and Harry, thanking him for telling her what He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named said, and waved goodbye as her father helped her drag her trunk away. After loading their things into the car's trunk, Liz's parents hugged her warmly, happy to see her. Or so they said. The girl had this nagging feeling that the reason Mr and Mrs Granger always preferred Hermione to her was because she wasn't actually their daughter. Maybe they only took her in because they had to. _Nonsense_ , she thought. They'd given her all the same things as Hermione... because they were sisters. Sisters by blood.

Supper time was awkward. Once again, only for Elizabeth. Mr and Mrs Granger were happily passing around food items to Hermione and vice versa. Liz however, was back to the state she was in before she was petrified; she wasn't eating. She had no appetite. Then, when they all least expected it...

"Am I adopted?"


	33. Letters and Sirius Black

Elizabeth's hair had gotten quite dark over the summer. Her dark chocolate locks were now ebony in colour, but they were still just as long and smooth as they'd always been. Her eyes were the same shade of jade green they were before. Her skin still seemed to be made of pure ivory, broken up on top of her nose by a light dusting of coffee coloured freckles. The girl had grown slightly, making her officially taller than the famous Harry Potter. That wasn't hard to do, however; the boy was short for his age. Liz had gotten a little curvier as well, but that was only for the boys to notice.

Her physical changes, however, were nothing compared to her psychological changes. Elizabeth's ebony locks fell randomly onto her shoulders in a tangled mess, her bright green eyes were dull and her ivory skin seemed sallow, dark circles very apparent under her eyes. Books were laid everywhere in her room: on the floor, her desk, the bed. The curtains were drawn in, blocking out most of the July warmth. The door was locked and blocked by a small bookshelf in case someone decided to search for the lost key to her room; no one knew where it was. Ella was sprawled out on her bed, emotionless eyes fixed upon the ceiling lamp, dried tear tracks on her cheeks. The girl shivered, not because she was cold - she was wearing sweat pants and a large hoodie - but because another wave of emotion passed over her, making a few tears wet the tear tracks on her face, again. Her guitar laid unused beside her bed, waiting to be plucked for the first time in weeks. Aslan came and went from the window, entering the next one which happened to be Hermione's bedroom window, so she could feed him since Elizabeth hadn't come out of her room in a month.

Sound. Movement. The now raven-haired girl turned on her side, facing the window, and let out a sigh. Something was knocking on the window. It couldn't be Aslan because he was curled up on top of her Transfiguration book. She slowly pushed herself up, now in a sitting position. Liz then stretched out her arm and pushed the curtains away, letting in the morning sunlight. Her eyes watered, not used to the light. She unhooked the latch on the window, letting the wind push the window open. A large eagle owl the poked its head in, a piece of parchment hooked to its leg. Who would be sending her mail? The bird then hopped down onto her bed and untied the bow with its beak, nudging the envelope towards her. The Slytherin sighed and gently gripped the object and tore it open, omitting to read who it was from. She did however, recognize the writing on the inside.

* * *

 _Dear Ella,_

 _Your sister owled me. Isn't that odd? Apparently you haven't come out of your room for over a month. I hate to admit it... but I'm worried. If your stupid sister has to owl me in order for you to do something, there's a serious problem._

 _I'm just going to shut up, now. I expect you to owl me right now and tell me what the bloody hell is wrong._

 _Draco Malfoy_

* * *

Elizabeth's mouth twitched upward for the first time since the end of the term. Oh, Draco, she thought.

"Damn you, Hermione." she said, her voice slightly hoarse.

She then turned her head towards her desk and blinked a few times, her eyes stinging from the lack of stimulation. She painfully stood and padded over to her desk to grab a quill and a random piece of parchment. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, causing numerous joints to crack, she dipped her quill in the only ink bottle she had left and hovered her hand over the paper. She began to write.

* * *

 _Dear You,_

 _Uh... hey? I don't even know why my brain agreed to write back. Maybe it has something to do with the fact your stupid eagle owl only stops nipping my ear when I'm writing (I hope you didn't tell him to do that). Also, I may just come out of my room to hurt my sister; she didn't have to owl you. I would have come out of my room eventually._

 _Anyway, as for what is wrong with me... lets just say I'm not who you think I am.  
_ _I'm not Hermione's sister...  
_ _I don't know who I am, Draco._

 _Ella_

* * *

Elizabeth reattached the green thread to her letter and told the owl to send it back to Draco. She took a deep breath and stood, padding over to her wardrobe. She picked out an outfit and went into the adjoining bathroom to take a long, steaming hot shower. She brushed her hair, taking out all the knots, and dried her hair with her hair dryer since she couldn't use her wand. Liz then dressed and hung her towel to dry. Deciding that her room needed a little freshening up, she picked up all the books, clothes and school supplies and put them back in their respectful places, disturbing a sleeping Aslan who seemed to enjoy the large piles of nonsense to sleep on. She moved the bookcase away from her door and placed it beside her desk, where it should have been all this time. Elizabeth went back into the bathroom and shuffled through the cabinet in search for her makeup kit that her grandmother had gotten her a long time ago. She decided that she should maybe put something on her face since she looked like something out of the zombie apocalypse. Anyway, a little eyeliner never did any harm.

In all the years of her existence, the many things she had seen, there was one thing that had always been true: people only saw what they wanted to see. In Elizabeth's case, she saw herself as alone. It never got easier; to be among people and yet somehow be utterly alone. To have been lied to, told you belonged and that you had a family. Only to be told that your entire life was a lie, that what you thought was your family, your safe haven, was nothing but a charade. These were the thoughts running trough her head as her hand hovered over the door handle to her bedroom. Should she go out? She probably should since today they were going to the Leaky cauldron to meet up with the Weasley's (she heard Hermione tell her through the door last week). Her mind then wandered to Harry. He was probably in a worse situation than her, considering the people he has to live with. It was decided. Without further thought, Ellie turned the doorknob and opened the door, the smell of pancakes filling the air. The girl forced a small smile on her face, but opted to just let the thought perish. Her face would do whatever, when it wanted to. She then slowly made her way downstairs, Aslan running ahead of her. In the kitchen, everything went silent when she walked in, nervously picking at her nails. Mr and Mrs Granger just stared at her, unable to find the proper words to say. Hermione looked up from her breakfast, scrambled eggs falling off her fork and onto the table.

"H-Hey, Lizzie." she spoke, completely stunned  
"Don't 'hey' me. I'm trying to be mad at you for owling, Malfoy." Liz half smiled  
"Yeah, uh, sorry about that. I figured it was the only way you'd... get out of your room." Hermione continued, standing up and walking towards her sister  
"Well, you were right." the Slytherin then turned to her quiet 'parents' "What are _you_ doing? Just going to stare at me like I'm a fucking zoo animal!?"

Mr and Mrs Granger jumped at their 'daughter's' aggressive outburst. She had the right to be angry; they did hide the fact she was adopted... _for twelve years._ Hermione wanted to intervene, but she was frozen in place. Never had she seen her 'sister' so angry.

"I know I should have confronted you last month about this... but why the hell did you not tell me I was fucking adopted? And don't tell me its because I'm not old enough to understand, because I've been through enough shit to qualify as 'old enough'."  
"We didn't-"  
"You didn't what? Want me to think I was different?" Elizabeth said exasperated "News flash! I am different. I don't look like any of you, I don't act like any of you-"  
"We didn't know how to tell you!" Mr Granger shouted, interrupting "We still love you, Elizabeth, even if you're not our biological daughter. Can't you forgive us?"  
"Let me get back to you on that one."

* * *

The next day, Hermione and Elizabeth were dropped off with all their things, at the Leaky Cauldron. Ron Weasley was already there, waiting to trap the two young girls in bone-crushing hugs. The rest of the family had gone shopping, so Ron showed the girls to their rooms and let them unpack. They knew that Liz had spent the whole month locked inside her room - thanks to Hermione - but she was out now, and it wasn't the time nor the place to put a damper on her mood.

The next morning, the whole gang of wizards went back to Diagon Alley to purchase all their new school supplies, including an extra potions book for Liz and a new cat for Hermione (currently, the Weasley's were still at Diagon Alley, having forgotten to purchase new robes for Ginny). Well... not really a cat. It was an orange tabby mixed with a Kneazle. Nasty buggers, Elizabeth thought. According to Hermione, Crookshanks (the Kneazle cat), was adorable. Everyone else thought it hideous. Liz put up with it though, since Aslan seemed to like him and chasing Scabbers around in a tag-team sort of thing. This often led to Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth fighting.

"I'm warning you, Hermione, Elizabeth! Keep those bloody beasts of yours away from Scabbers or I'll turn them into tea cozies."  
"Crookshanks is a cat, Ronald! What do you expect? It's in his nature." Hermione argued  
"A cat? You call that a cat?" Liz scoffed, casually sitting in a chair as Aslan purred on her lap  
"You're not helping, Lizzie! He's accusing you cat too!"  
"Liz is right, Hermione. Looks more like a pig with hair if you ask me." Ron shouted  
"That's rich coming from the owner of a smelly old shoe brush!" the older Granger said, then cooed to her... feline "It's all right, Crookshanks. You just ignore the mean little boy..."

During the shouting match, Aslan had gotten up and ran to someone. Liz looked up and smiled.

"Harry!" she called, running over to him and trapping him in a giant hug "It's wonderful to see you!"  
"It good to see you too, Liz." the raven-haired boy smiled "Hey, your hair got darker. Did you dye it?"  
"No, it just got darker naturally I guess."  
"Harry! Tell their cats to leave Scabbers alone!" Ron bellowed from across the room

The glasses-clad boy bent down and picked up Aslan and scratched him behind the ear. He always seemed to like the Boy-Who-Lived. Elizabeth never wondered why.

"Aslan, leave Scabbers alone. You can chase him when Ron isn't there."  
"Harry!"  
"Oh, shut it, Weasley!" Liz chuckled "Tell us about your trip to Egypt!"  
"If you insist." the ginger said dramatically

The four friends sat themselves around a large table. Crookshanks was being pet furiously by a frustrated Hermione, Aslan was on Harry's lap, purring away and Ron's rat was nibbling on some stale bread next to him. The young Weasley then took a newspaper clipping from The Daily Prophet out of his pocket and smoothed it out on the table. The headline could read: 'GRAND PRIZE WINNER VISITS EGYPT!'. The photo underneath the headline showed the entire Weasley family waving and smiling.

"So, Egypt. What's it like?" Harry asked, absently petting the cat on his lap  
"Brilliant. It's got loads of old stuff. Mummies. Death masks. Tombs-"  
"You know, the ancient Egyptians of the Nile River delta worshipped the cat goddess Bast." Hermione interrupted Ron

The ginger glared stonily at Hermione who continued to ignore him. Harry and Liz had problems containing their laughter, small smiles etched onto their lips. Ron turned back to them.

"I also got a new wand."

Just then, a commotion could be heard to the left of the four friends. The Weasleys - Percy, Fred, George, Ginny, Arthur and Molly - arrived en masse, laden with more purchases from Diagon Alley. George scoffed at his younger brother.

"Not flashing that clipping about again, are you, Ron?"  
"I haven't shown anyone!"  
"No, not a soul." Fred continued in a sarcastic tone "Unless you count Tom. The day maid. The night maid. The cook. The bloke that came to fix the toilet. That wizard from Belgium..."

Hermione and Elizabeth laughed at Ron's reddened face. Mrs Weasley then came forth and takes Harry's face in her hands, as if relieved to see him. The commotion made Aslan walk off the raven-haired boy's lap and onto Elizabeth who smile and nuzzled his nose with hers.

"It's good to see you, Harry." the woman smiled, then looked over to Liz and back at Harry "My... You two look so much alike now that you're hair's gotten darker, Dear."

Mrs Weasley smiled and walked away, leaving a confused Harry and Elizabeth behind. The two looked at each, and laughed it off. She also dismissed a thought. No way Elizabeth was the only sister to the famous Harry Potter. She'd just have to look in hundreds of books at school or even ask the Headmaster; Dumbledore did know more things than he let on.

"Harry, Elizabeth. May I have a word with you two?" Arthur Weasley said, coming up beside them

The two friends look at each other again and nod. Liz puts her cat down and watched him run towards Fred, who picked him up. Mr Weasley then lead the two teens away, stopping in front of a post with a poster on it. It was a fugitive poster, with the picture of Sirius Black on it, glowering under the words: 'Have You Seen This Man?'. Arthur wearily glanced at it; both children noticed.

"Harry, Elizabeth. There are some within the Ministry who would strongly discourage me from divulging what I'm about to tell you. But I think you need to know the facts. Because you're in danger. Grave danger. The both of you."  
"Why me, Sir?" Elizabeth asked, thoroughly confused  
"Everyone knows that you aren't a Muggle-born, Elizabeth. Ever since the Chamber of Secrets, rumors have been spreading about what - about what-"  
"You-Know-Who?" Elizabeth asked, causing Arthur to nod furiously  
"What he wants to do with you and..."  
"Does this have anything to do with Sirius Black, Sir?" Harry asked as the man glanced at the poster again  
"What do you two know of him?" Mr Weasley asked  
"That he escaped Askaban..." Liz said  
"He killed someone..." Harry completed  
"Harry, when you stopped-"  
"Voldemort?"  
"Black lost everything. But he remains a loyal servant to this day. In his mind, only you stand in the way of-"  
"... Voldemort?"  
"Harry, I hate it when-"  
"I know, sorry. Ron and Liz hate it too." the boy apologized  
"In Black's mind, only you stand in the way of... You-Know-Who returning to power. That's why he's broken. That's why he's broken out of Azkaban. To find you. And..." Once again Mr Weasley hesitated  
"... Kill me?"  
"Yes, Harry."  
"Okay, but what does this have to do with me?" Elizabeth asked, still confused  
"Only... You-Know-Who knows who your parents are Elizabeth... Black needs to bring you to him..."

Sirius Black? A murderer, needed to bring Elizabeth to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? Why couldn't I have been a regular Muggle? Elizabeth asked herself.

"So promise me, you two... That you won't go looking for Black."  
"Why would we go looking for someone who wants to do us harm, Sir?"


	34. Dementors

Platform nine and three-quarters was still as busy, full and noisy as the past two years. Elizabeth scanned the crowd around her, now able to see above half the people there, as she went into the train behind Hermione, Harry and Ron. The main aisle of the Hogwarts Express teemed with students of all houses, and some who donned their regular clothes, still not sorted. Harry, Ron, Elizabeth and Hermione worked their way down the aisle, looking for an empty compartment. Harry was telling his three friends about what happened with his aunt Marge; she blew up like a balloon and floated away. Brilliant, Liz kept thinking as the story progressed. Ron could say the same. Hermione however...

"I didn't mean to blow her up. I just... lost control." the raven-haired boy said  
"Brilliant!" Ronald and Elizabeth said in unison  
"Honestly, you two, it's not funny. Harry's lucky he wasn't expelled." the seemingly wiser Granger scolded

SNAP! SNAP! SNAP! A copy of the The Monster Book of Monsters, which would bite you if you tried to open it, scuttled crab-like down the aisle, pursued by an exhausted looking Neville Longbottom. Elizabeth moved out of the way just in time before the book bit off the end of her shoe.

"Hi, Harry. Ron. Hermione... Slytherin Hermi- you." the boy said quickly, running past them  
"Hi, Neville." the four chorused half-heartedly

Elizabeth had almost forgotten people knew she wasn't Hermione's sister. The girl sighed as they all bumped past each other. Hermione, ahead of everyone, nodded to a compartment. As they slipped inside, they found a man in shabby robes slumped against the window, asleep. He looked very ill, according to Elizabeth. Maybe the others thought different. Probably not since the whole quartet looked at him wearily. Ron and Hermione sat opposite to the man, Harry and Ella sat to his left.

"Who d'you reckon he is?" the ginger boy asked, nodding towards the sleeping man  
"Professor R.J. Lupin." Hermione stated  
"You know everything." Liz sighed, irritated "Even I don't know everything!"  
"It's on his case."

Elizabeth turned to look at the case above them. R.J. Lupin was indeed stamped on case just as battered as the man's robes. The girl sighed and crossed her arms, slumping back into her seat.

"Is he really asleep?" Harry asked  
"Seems to b-"  
"I can poke him. Can I poke him?" Liz asked, her frown growing into a smirk  
"No, Elizabeth Rose," Hermione scolded. The smirk turned back into a frown "Why? What is it, Harry?"  
"Close the door."

Hermione and Ron exchanged a curious glance. Elizabeth looked over at the raven-haired boy. The look on his face told her everything. Ron then rose and slid the door shut. Storm clouds, like dark ghosts, tossed sheets of rain onto the scarlet engine as it headed north. A perfect setting for telling Hermione and Ronald everything Arthur Weasley had told Liz and Harry a few weeks prior. The former two stared at the latter, faces stricken in the lantern light that glowed in the compartment. Above them, Crookshanks and Aslan slumbered in their cages.

"Let me get this straight," Ron began "Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban to kill you-" he pointed to Harry "and to kidnap you." he pointed Elizabeth

The two green eyed children looked at each other for a moment, then back at Hermione and Ron.

"Yes." they said in unison  
"But they'll catch Black, won't they? I mean... eventually." the older Granger said sheepishly  
"Sure -" Ella began in a sarcastic tone "Of course, no one's ever broken out of Azkaban before and he's a raving, murderous lunatic- Merlin's beard, what was that?"

Just then, the compartment rattled, interrupting and scaring the Slytherin. Lanterns flickered. The train lurched and began to slow. The quartet shared confused glances. What the fuck, Liz thought. Hermione slid down the seat, pinning Ron against the window, looking outside. Harry and Liz snickered as they exchanged an awkward glance, then Hermione carefully slid to the other end of the seat and glanced at her watch. She frowned.

"Why're we stopping? We can't be there yet..."

Elizabeth rose, slid the door open and peered into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads looked out curiously, same as her. Then, the train jerked, making Liz stumble and fall over Harry. The whole car swayed and the lamps running along the ceiling flickered and died one by one. Until all was dark.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, a thin wisp of steam escaping his lips

Harry and Elizabeth noticed.

"Dunno... Maybe we've broken down?" the latter asked  
"Ouch, Ron, that was my foot!" Hermione cursed

Squeaking. Ron, a dark silhouette against the window, wiped a patch of condensation from the window and gazed outside, squinting, in hopes of seeing better. Maybe people were boarding the train, Liz thought. Suddenly, the car swayed violently. Elizabeth, terrified of what might happen, firmly gripped Harry's arm hoping for some comfort. The boy grabbed her hand and smiled reassuringly at her. Thank you, Harry, Liz thought. The car had eventually stopped swaying, but the metal trim around the windows and doors began to vibrate intensely, causing Ron to pull his fingers back.

"Bloody hell, what's happening, Harry?" the raven-haired girl whispered  
"I don't know, Liz... Just hold my hand."

A soft crackling filled the car, catching Elizabeth's attention. Her eyes flickered to the right. Flames bloomed in the hands of R.J. Lupin. In the shivering light, his face looked tired and gray, but his eyes were alert and wary. He quietly put a finger to his lips, telling the girl to keep quiet. She discretely nodded against Harry's arm. Suddenly, a hand, slimy and scabbed - a hand of death - gripped the half-open compartment door and pushed it aside, revealing a towering, cloaked figure, its face hidden beneath a black hood. Elizabeth whimpered. Crookshanks and Aslan's hair rose and as they hissed, a large gust of wind made all the children shiver. The flames in Lupin's hands sputtered. Suddenly, a sound swelled in the raven-haired girl's ears. It was eerie, painful. The sound of a man shouting... A woman screaming... A man crying. It all made Liz's teeth clench together in pain. The girl then fell limp against Harry, who went limp as well, and a silvery white light drifted from both their mouths. The world spun on its axis and both of them fell to the ground hard, everything going black.

With a desperate gasp, Elizabeth opened her eyes, blinking wildly. Dusk was gone, the windows now the same colour as her hair. The floor at her spine was shaking gently, meaning the train was moving again. Jade green eyes shifted toward the window; a drop of water, newly frozen, ran slowly down the glass.

"Elizabeth? Lizzie, are you all right?"

Hermione's troubled face hovered above her. With her green eyes enlarged, the hairs on the nape of her neck bristled and a gaggle of goose pimples laminating her frigid skin, she nodded. She grabbed her sister's extended hand and sat up properly. At the same time, Ron handed Harry his glasses, who seemed to have woken up around the same time as Liz. SNAP! The sound echoed loudly in her head which turned automatically towards it. Professor Lupin broke two small triangles of chocolate off the slab he held in his hand and held them out to the two children seated on the floor.

"Chocolate. Eat. It'll help." the man said with a small smile  
"Thanks." the Slytherin said meekly, taking the chocolate and nibbling on it  
"What was that - that thing?" Harry asked

The image of the cloaked figure burned in Elizabeth's mind. She shivered unconsciously.

"A dementor..." she mumbled  
"Precisely. One of the guards of Azkaban." the professor completed "It's gone now."  
"It was searching the train for Sirius Black." Hermione added  
"I need to have a word with the driver. Excuse me." Lupin said, then looked at Harry "Eat. It'll help."

As he left, Harry looked over to Ron and Hermione, Elizabeth now reattached to his arm.

"What happened to me - to us?"  
"Well, you sort of went... limp. We thought maybe you were both having a fit or something." Ron said, his face pale  
"And did either or you... pass out?" Harry asked  
"No. I felt weird... Like I'd never be cheerful again. But... no."  
"I was trembling. Cold." Hermione said "But then... Professor Lupin made it go away."  
"But someone was screaming..." the glasses-clad boy said, causing Liz to look up at him. He had heard it too? "A woman."

Hermione and Ron glanced nervously at each other, eyebrows furrowed.

"No one was screaming, Harry." the older Granger said  
"Liz, did you hear it then?"

The girl nodded.

"But I heard more than a woman..." Elizabeth mumbled, still nibbling her chocolate which was slowly warming her up "There was a man... he was shouting something. T-Then he was... crying? I don't know..."

Worried glances were shared for the rest of the train ride... Another strange welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	35. The New Kid and the Whore

The horseless carriages took the students up towards the castle, same as the previous year. Elizabeth tried to spot Malfoy, which was harder than expected since his hair was so blond. Without any luck, Liz sat in a carriage alongside Harry, Hermione, Ron, Neville and some random Ravenclaw. The wheels splashed in shallow puddles along the muddy path as the glimmering Hogwarts castle came into view.

Once inside, the students made their way to their respective tables; Ron, Harry and Hermione heading towards the Gryffindor table, Elizabeth at the Slytherin table. The raven-haired girl sat the furthest from people as she possibly could, seeing that they were looking at her oddly. _I thought I'd stop getting these looks_ , she thought as she recalled the previous years' events. But people were looking at her for multiple reasons. Obviously, they were all staring at her because the latest gossip was that Elizabeth Rose Granger wasn't exactly a Granger. How they knew, the girl could only imagine. Surely, Draco didn't go blabbing about it to the world, however probable that may have sounded to her. But her fellow Slytherins were also looking at her because her appearance had changed. Her hair, now obsidian in hue, only made her jade eyes brighter against her pale skin. Her bust seemed larger, but maybe it was just because she had lost some weight due to the fact she didn't eat for almost a month. Ella had also grown a few centimeters, making her taller than all her female classmates, save Millicent Bulstrode who was taller than most boys her age. Her obsidian hair, usually pulled up in a simple bun or lazy ponytail now laid limp against her shoulders, a few strands tucked behind her ear. The girl's looks had changed, yes, but it wasn't the simple fact that her hair had gotten darker that bothered her housemates. It was the fact that Elizabeth now bore a striking resemblance to the Boy-Who-Lived. Surely they didn't think she could be his long lost sister, could they?

Elizabeth looked towards the end of the table and at the staff table. There sat, in the center, as usual, professor Dumbledore, his purple robes sparkling in the candlelight. Minerva McGonagall still sat to his left. The potions master, Severus Snape, sat between the half-giant, Hagrid, and professor Lupin, whom Liz wanted to know more about. After all, he did save her life. Suddenly, a head of blond hair interrupted her gaze. Draco Malfoy had grown quite a bit over the summer; him proudly admitting he was officially taller than Liz. His hair was no longer slicked back, which looked better on him according to the young Slytherin witch. He had gotten rather... _cute_.

"Hey, you." he greeted  
"Oh, I'm a 'you', know?" the girl said playfully  
"Until we figure out who gave birth to you... yes."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and looked to the front as Minerva McGonagall tapped on her glass, quieting the whole hall. She went on about the sorting as the first years came into the Great Hall, looks of fear and excitement on their faces. As she gazed at all the new faces and tried to guess who would go where with Draco, she felt as someone was watching her. Ellie looked over to the staff table, only to see Severus Snape just avoiding her gaze. Why was he looking at me, she thought. Sometimes she wondered what was going on in that head of his, since nothing really came out of his mouth.

One by one, the students were called. 'HUFFLEPUFF!' 'RAVENCLAW!' 'SLYTHERIN!' 'GRYFFINDOR!" Student after student, house after house was being called. Each new face was analyzed, especially the one of a particularly special student. He was older than all of the students who stood amonsgt him. _A transfer_ , Liz thought. He was at least in his third year, at the height he stood. The boy's skin was a honeyed brown. Against it, his short black hair gave him a Mediterranean, or Middle-Eastern look, rather than the pale whites of the majority of Britain. He stood tall and proud, a curious look in his hazel eyes.

" _Ferran, Amir_." McGonagall called

The mystery boy's head perked up and he made his way to the stool, spinning around to sit on it. A few moments later, a smirk on his attractive face, he rose as the hat was removed and had called 'SLYTHERN!' The whole table cheered, a few of them rising from their seats to give him an encouraging pat on the back. Amir sat down in front of Elizabeth, beside Blaise Zabini, who always seemed to be near the girl even though he claimed to hate her. Staring was their first means of communication. Hazel meeting jade in a squinting contest; the effect soft and inviting instead of harsh. Perhaps it was his lips that gave away his intention, not quite smiling but tilting as if they meant to. Both were brought back to reality by both Dumbledore and Malfoy, who seemed irked about their eye contact. Although Liz didn't see it, this only made Amir's smirk grow.

"Welcome! Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" the Headmaster said "I have a few things to say, before we become befuddled by our excellent feast. I myself am particularly looking forward to the flaming kiwi cups, which, while somewhat treacherous for those of us with facial hair-" McGonagall cleared her throat "Mm. Yes. First, I'm pleased to welcome Professor R.J. Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts. Good luck to you, Professor."

Amidst scattered applause, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Elizabeth clapped the loudest. A thought suddenly came to her mind. Defense Against the Dark Arts? That's why he knew about the chocolate.

"As some of you may know, Professor Kettleburn, our Care of Magical Creatures teacher for many years, has decided to retire in order to spend more time with his remaining limbs." Dumbledore continued, causing Malfoy and Elizabeth to give each other odd looks "Fortunately, I'm delighted to announce that his place will be filled by none other than our own Rubeus Hagrid!"

Liz smiled as Draco complained about his father hearing about this. She loved hearing him say that; it meant she could laugh at him. Hagrid then turned ruby red and rose, nearly toppling the staff table and sending water goblets weaving. Unfortunately, this wasn't the end of the speech. The last part made Elizabeth go pale as she recalled the events that happened earlier, on the train.

"Finally, on a more disquieting note, Hogwarts - at the request of the Ministry of Magic - will, until further notice, play host to the Dementors of Azkaban... The Dementors will be stationed at the entrances to the grounds. While they are under strict orders not to enter the castle itself, you will on occasion see them as you go about your daily activities. Under no circumstances are you to approach them. It is not in the nature of a Dementor to be forgiving..."

And that... Harry and Elizabeth knew all to well...

* * *

Later, during the feast, as Liz shoved loads of food onto her plate, Snape distributed the timetables as well as the sheet to fill out for the students' electives. In the third year, it was required to have two extra classes for some reason unknown to all students. All Liz knew, is that it would be less time spent studying potions. The girl definitely wanted to take Care of Magical Creatures and see how Hagrid did as a professor, but she wasn't sure about her other elective.

"Draco what're you taking?"  
"Care of Magical Creatures, only because you're taking it, and Divination. I don't want anything too hard."  
"Gross, I am not taking Divination. I heard professor Trelawney was a nutter." Zabini butted in  
"No one asked for your opinion, Zabini." Ella snapped  
"I wasn't talking to you, Granger. Oh, wait, you're not a Granger, are you?"  
"Shut your mouth."  
"Oh, and I heard that you fainted." the boy chuckled, causing Pansy Parkinson to snort "Did the Dementors scare a poor little family-less girl-"  
"SHUT UP!" Elizabeth shouted, suddenly standing up and slamming her fists on the table. The whole hall went silent "You have no right to talk to me about my family like that! My family problems are my own, they don't need to be shared with the world, Zabini!"  
"Well they already are."  
"Yeah. And _your_ mother is a fucking insatiable whore!"

Elizabeth's face had become rigid, jaw clamped tight, teeth grinding. It was time to get out of there before she did something she'd later come to regret. In standing, the bench wobbled backwards, making a few other students unstable. Blaise was staring at Liz like she had just performed an unforgivable curse, while everyone else sat there, eyes and mouth wide open. On the way out of the Great Hall, the Slytherin opened the doors hard, making them slam into the wall, loud. _I hope his brain rattles in his stupid skull_ , she thought. With each stride, Elizabeth knew she was the subject of discussion amongst both students and teachers, not the reason she lost it, but the fact that she lost it. She'd probably get a note requiring her presence in Snape's office, maybe even to Dumbledore's office, and most definitely her 'sister' would confront her about this. And so it went on, them feeling superior and Elizabeth feeling bad that the new kid had to witness such drama on the first day of school...


	36. Amir Ferran

Elizabeth had finally decided to take Care of Magical Creatures (which her 'sister' had already determined) and Study of Ancient Runes. For some reason it looked interesting to her. So, Liz sent an owl to Flourish & Blotts with a school owl, attaching a pouch with just enough money to purchase her books. Sure it wasn't safe, but who in their right mind would interrupt a Hogwarts owl? Surely enough, the next morning, while she was eating breakfast, a large pile of books fell onto the table, startling her fellow Slytherins. She read the attached note.

* * *

 _ **Thank you for your purchase, Miss Granger. We hope all the books arrived in mint condition.**_

 _ **Also, since you and your sister are such avid readers, you may get a discount for your next purchase at one of our many locations.**_

 _ **Yours truly,  
**_ _ **Flourish & Blotts**_

* * *

Elizabeth tore open the large package and smiled at the five brand new copies of _Advanced Rune Translation_ by Yuri Blishen, _Ancient Runes Made Easy_ by Laurenzoo, _Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms_ , _The Rune Dictionary_ and _Spellman's Syllabary_ by Spellman (Hermione had purchased _The Monster Book of Monsters_ for both of them already). And here came out the only part that made her resemble Hermione; the love for books and knowledge. This was probably what the sorting hat thought could have blossomed into a decent Ravenclaw.

Ellie gobbled her waffles and avidly drained her cup of tea before rising, her five leather-bound books aching to fall out of her arms. She placed them on the bench and next to it, her bag in which she placed all her new textbooks. She mentally thanked her extension charm and walked out of the Hall, on her way to her dorm to grab the rest of her books for the day. Luckily her bag never got the slightest bit heavier with each four-inch-thick book she added. Unfortunately for Elizabeth, her extension charm didn't help the fact that she was lost. Classroom 6A shouldn't have been hard to find. But that is what Liz managed. As she walked through the halls of the sixth floor, the girl had her nose in _Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms_ which probably made it harder for her to see Class 6A, but eventually she did found it, and took the last spot available, not bothering to look up from her book.

"Miss Granger, you're late."

Elizabeth's eyes finally tore themselves from her book. Professor Bathsheda Babbling stood in front of her, a dissatisfied look on her face. She was a short woman, her frizzy grey hair pulled up in a tight bun.

"Sorry, Professor. I got lost."  
"Don't let it happen again."  
"I won't."

The woman continued with her class, but the young Slytherin found it hard to concentrate. She had a lot on her mind. Blaise's words rang through her head over and over again, like a cancer refusing to go into remission. Luckily she hadn't been scolded for what she had said to the boy the previous day; Dumbledore was probably the reason for that. The fact that the whole of the wizarding community in Britain knew she wasn't Hermione's sister was ringing in her head as well. A while ago, she thought about it. She thought she'd be okay not being Hermione's twin, but she wasn't. This meant she had no family. No mother. No father. Her name was now Elizabeth Rose, _Granger_ now being a lie her 'parents' had told her.

"Stop frowning."

Liz snapped out of her trance, the disturbing thoughts immediately dissipated. She looked toward the voice, her eyes slightly widening when her eyes fell upon Amir Ferran. _He's even more attractive up close_ , Elizabeth thought. He had that kind of look that would stop you in your tracks. His honeyed brown skin made the green in his hazel eyes pop. This close, Ella could see the flecks of gold in the simple brown. He was a fair few inches taller than her, which she could tell even as they sat. Amir was slim, slightly muscular, with an almost perfectly symmetrical face. He was definitely of Middle-Eastern heritage, his dark skin and tousled ebony hair gave that away. He had strong arched brows and eyelashes so thick, it could be illegal. He had almost indistinct cheekbones and an angular jaw, which made him look devilishly handsome. Devilishly handsome yes, but he seemed like a handful. That special glint in his eye gave him away. It was the same glint she would see when Cormac McLaggen got particularly feisty that day and tried to get Elizabeth to go on a date with her. She wouldn't, by the way, even if she thought she was old enough to date. Amir Ferran seemed, to the Slytherin witch, to be a true ladies' man.

"Sorry?"  
"Stop frowning." he repeated. Liz noticed his accent "You will ruin that lovely face of yours."  
"Please... Don't even try." Elizabeth scoffed "The number of times McLaggen has tried that on me and never gotten anywhere is amazing."  
"Cormac McLaggen? The fourth year Gryffindor who could not seduce a toad even if he wished?"

Withholding laughter was not one of Ella's specialties. Her small smirk soon turned into a quiet chuckle. Her quiet chuckle then turned into small giggle. It didn't help either that Amir was continuing to give McLaggen ridiculous nicknames at the same time he mocked him. And so, both their laughter only got louder, until Professor Babbling told them to get out of the classroom. Amir and Elizabeth gathered their books and walked out of the classroom, both still grinning from ear to ear with the entire classroom staring at them in odd fascination. The boy then stopped walking, turned around and bowed, causing Elizabeth to laugh even more.

"Amir Hakim Ferran, at your service."  
"Elizabeth Rose Gra-" the girl interrupted herself, then smiled sadly "Just Elizabeth."  
"Well then, just Elizabeth- no. Rose, shall we go skip class near the Black Lake?"  
"Yes, we may."

Amir grabbed Elizabeth's hand and ran off, the girl barely able to keep up with him. He noticed and stopped, grabbed her and swung Liz over his shoulder like a potato sack. With a protesting witch on his back, the new student ran off again but bumped into someone on the way.

"Watch it, kid!" a startled Draco Malfoy shouted, then realised "Ella, aren't you supposed to be in class!?"  
"Got kicked out! See you later, Draco!" the girl called back, giggling "Amir slow down!"

The two students then rounded a corner and disappeared out of view. Draco looked on, daggers in his gaze. He could still hear the new kids', shoes clapping against the stone and Ella's, _his Ella's_ , laughter ringing through the hall. It was in his nature to get possessive, but not over a girl. Not over who he thought to be a Mudblood. What Blaise said as he passed didn't help either.

"Looks like your girlfriend's ditched you, Malfoy."  
"Shut up, Zabini."

* * *

Outside and underneath the beech tree, sat Amir and Elizabeth. As they spoke, their smiles never faltered. She listened as he spoke about living in Egypt, the mummies that walked around in his old school and the fact that Amir's nickname was _Amun-Ra_. Apparently the girls worshiped him at school, thereby giving him the title of an Egyptian God. Ellie laughed more than she had laughed in a while. It was odd for her to make a connection so fast, to give her trust so easily. There was something in the way he smiled, a warmth, a genuineness, a softness of spirit she just couldn't pass up. He wasn't the kind of Slytherin that Harry, Hermione or Ron would expect. Oh, no. In return, he listened like he was absorbing her words, not simply getting her "turn" over and done with so he could return to some other topic. The more time she spent with him the more her spirit lifted, he was the new friend she'd needed for so long. The person she needed to wash all her worries away.


	37. Buckbeak, I'm Not Your Sister

"I did hear that Trelawney was a nutter. The source of this information is a prick, mind you..." Elizabeth said as she walked across the grounds with the Golden Trio, on their way to Hagrid's hut  
"Death omens. _Honestly_." Hermione scoffed "If you ask me, Divination's a very woolly discipline. Now, Ancient Runes... That's a fascinating subject."  
"I agree! Although I did get kicked out of my first class..."  
"WHAT!?" the trio shouted, stopping in their tracks  
"Don't blame me. Anyway, how many classes are you taking this year, Mione?"  
"A fair few."  
"Hang on. Ancient Runes is the same time as Divination. You'd have to be in two classes at once." Ron noted  
"Ron's right. You weren't in my class this morning."  
"Don't be silly. How could anyone be in two classes at once?" Hermione asked, then mimicked Trelawney " _Broaden your minds..._ "

Elizabeth chuckled and continued walking on. They soon made it to Hagrid's hut, ready for their next class: Care of Magical Creatures. The young Slytherin followed her friends and Hagrid who lead them towards a small, bright and sunny paddock, just this side of the Forbidden Forest. In the paddock, a freestanding iron rack hung with dead ferrets, buzzing with flies. _Gross_ , Liz thought, scrunching up her nose. Nearby, you could see Hagrid's pumpkin patch.

"Gather 'round. Find yerself a spot."

Ellie broke from the trio and weaved her way through the crowd of students, still entering the paddock. Spotting a head of blonde hair, she ducked underneath a few bags, causing their owners to shriek and curse at her, and poked the blond's side. Malfoy turned, a frown on his face, but rolled his eyes and smirked once he saw Elizabeth.

"That's it. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-"  
"And exactly how do you do that?" Malfoy interrupted

Hagrid looked back. Belts, rope, Spellotape: any means available had been employed to bridle _The Monster Book of Monsters_ , which were quivering violently in each students' hands.

"Crikey. Didn' yeh know? All yeh've got ter do is stroke 'em. Look-"

The half-giant took Hermione's copy and snapped the Spellotape binding it. As it began to bite, Hagrid calmly ran a forefinger down the book's spine and it shivered, falling quietly open.

"Oh, well, that was obvious." Liz said sarcastically, rolling her eyes

She loved Hagrid, she really did, but so far he wasn't the greatest teacher; Snape was still her favourite. The Half-Giant then left, muttering something about needed the magical creatures part of the class. This was apparently the perfect time for Draco Malfoy to irritate Harry Potter.

"God, this place is going to the dogs. Wait until my father hears Dumbledore's got this oaf teaching classes."  
"Listen, you stupid prat-"  
"Potter, there's a Dementor behind you!" Malfoy said, eyes widening in fear

Both Elizabeth and Harry jumped, fear swelling in their mind, breath caught in their throats. They wheeled around, fearing what they'd find but saw nothing. Instantly, the Slytherins, excluding Liz, made an eerie moaning sound then broke up laughing. Harry reddened, embarrassed, but the witch's face only got stern. Malfoy stopped laughing, realizing that she had been affected by the Azkaban guard as well. His mouth opened to speak, but the girl only turned her head and walked over to Harry, the boy giving her a sad smile. Draco Malfoy had messed up there.

Suddenly, a strange beast emerged from the trees on the other side of the paddock, Hagrid by its side. It had the torso, hind legs, and tail of a horse, but the front legs, wings and head of a giant eagle. It was beautiful. According to Elizabeth anyway.

"Beautiful, isn' he?"

There seemed to be no consensus on this, except for Elizabeth wildly nodding her head, a smile on her face, but the students stared in wary wonder nonetheless. As Hagrid coaxed the beast to the center of the paddock with a few dead ferrets. Ron stared at them uneasily.

"Hagrid. Exactly what is that?"  
"It's a Hippogriff, Ronald." Ella answered as if it were obvious  
"Exactly, Elizabeth. Ten points teh, er, Slytherin." Hagrid said, causing Liz to smirk proudly in Ron's direction "Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know is they're very proud creatures. Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it migh' be the las' thing yeh do. Right then - who wants ter come an' say hello?"

The whole entire class stepped back, curious, but not enough to get close to an unknown creature. Liz and Harry however, both stood still, unsure whether to step back or forward. Hagrid's face instantly brightened.

"Good, you two!"

Harry, surprised, looked around and saw that everyone had backed up. He then followed Elizabeth reluctantly. She was already moving forward, eager to be near a Hippogriff.

"Tha's it. Easy now... stop. This here's Buckbeak, you two. Yeh want ter let 'im make the firs' move. It's polite, see? Jus' take step forward, give 'im a bow, and if Buckbeak bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him." the half-giant said "Ready?"  
"Ready." Elizabeth said quietly. Harry nodded

The Slytherin slowly made her way forward and stopped to bow gently. Harry did the same right beside her. Buckbeak's head cocked, eagle eyes studying the two students steadily. Both of them waited until the Hippogriff's head dipped, signaling he was okay with both raven-haired teens. Ella heard Hagrid sigh in relief.

"Well done! Go on, give 'em a pat."

Elizabeth was first to reach out to Buckbeak. She gently placed her hand on the creatures head, Harry on his beak. The two friends then looked at each other, smiling, and let out breathy chuckles, both relieved and amazed at what was happening. But Hagrid startled Harry and Elizabeth when he said that they could ride him. The glasses-clad boy was about to protest but the giant had already lifted him up and placed him behind Buckbeak's wing joint, telling him not to pull any feathers. Liz was next to be placed up behind Harry, whom she grabbed onto tightly when the Hippogriff began running forward. Giant wings unfolded, huge and powerful, and - WHOOSH! - they soared into the air, Elizabeth and Harry's eyes wide. Rising higher and higher, Harry loosened his hold on Buckbeak's neck and Liz loosened her grip on Harry. Both friends were instantly lost in the joy of flying, grinning from ear to ear. They fly over the Black Lake and swoop low, letting Ella run her fingers on the water. They circled over the Whomping Willow, past the Hogwarts castle and then swooped around when the creature heard Hagrid's whistle. Beating his way back to the paddock, galloping to a halt, Harry and Elizabeth slid off, the class cheering - all except Draco Malfoy who narrowed his eyes maliciously.

"Good work you two!" Hagrid said, then continued under his breath "How'm I doin' on me firs' day?"  
"Brilliant... Professor." Harry smiled

The three of them grinned, when Draco pushed past them roughly, striding toward Buckbeak. _Oh, no_ , Elizabeth though, _this is not good_. The girl tried to warm her... friend, but he never listened when his ego was in jeopardy. Actually he never listened. Ever.

"Give me a go at that thing. If Potter can do it, it must be easy. You're not dangerous at all, are you, you great ugly brute-"  
"Malfoy, no!" Hagrid called  
"Fucking idiot..." Liz sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Harry hummed in agreement

Elizabeth thought nothing of it. Draco was going to be warned and that was that. But she didn't expect Buckbeak's steely talons to slash down on the boy's arm. Harry, Liz and Malfoy all froze. The blond looked down and shrieked at the blood blossoming on his robes. Instantly, Harry dashed forward towards Buckbeak who whipped around, his talons raised and, seeing Harry, lowered them. Elizabeth ran towards Malfoy, her better judgement gone. He deserved it, sure, but she hated seeing anyone she even remotely cared about getting hurt.

"It's killed me! It's killed me!" the blond whines  
"Oh, shut up, Draco. You're not dead." Ella chuckled and smiled despite herself, then saw the blood "Damn, you're bleeding."  
"Yer fine, jus' a scratch." Hagrid dismissed  
"Hagrid, this is not a scratch." the girl said darkly "He has to be taken to the hospital wing."  
"All right."  
"I can go with you if-"  
"No." the giant said sternly "I'm the teacher. You all jus'... CLASS DISMISSED!"

And with that, Hagrid - looking shaken - swooped up Malfoy, flopped him over his shoulder (making Elizabeth wince and panic ever-so-slightly) and lumbered toward the castle. The Slytherin witch ran back to her bag and grabbed her things, pushing past everyone to follow Hagrid and a whining Malfoy. Someone's hand grabbing hers however stopped her from moving forward.

"Where are you going, Liz?" Harry asked  
"To the hospital wing." the girl replied simply  
"To see Malfoy? Don't tell me you actually feel bad for him?" Ron asked  
"Sure, he deserved it. But it doesn't mean I like seeing people I even only remotely care about get hurt."  
"Liz he's mean to you, to all of us." Harry tried to reason  
"Not all the time. He-"  
"Lizzie, he's a bad person." Hermione interrupted  
"Don't interrupt me, Hermione!" Ellie growled "He might be mean to you guys, but sometimes he has the decency to forget about his reputation and be nice with me. It's not my fault that I like to see the better in people, even if other can't seem to find it."  
"I just don't want him to hurt you. You're my sister, Liz."  
"I AM NOT YOUR SISTER!" Ella shouted, causing every head in the paddock to turn towards her "It was all a lie."

With tears welling in her eyes, the Slytherin swung her bag over her shoulder and ran across the grounds, quietly apologizing to the people she bumped into. Some cursed at her, some merely shrugged it off. The girl moved quickly through the halls, ignoring the protests coming from Professor McGonagall who was telling her to slow down, and made it to the hospital wing just as Hagrid was exiting. Ellie could hear the excessive moaning coming from Draco Malfoy, probably faking most of his pain. She could also hear Madam Pomfrey shouting at the boy. It was quite a sight actually, once Elizabeth entered the room, smiling through the tears threatening to fall.

"Mr. Malfoy, stop making such a fuss!"  
"But it's killed me! I'll die of an infection!"  
"If you don't stop I will give you an infection to actually worry about, young man!"  
"Draco Malfoy, you are pathetic." Ella laughed, causing Madam Pomfrey to agree loudly and Draco to huff and slump back on the cot

The matron walked away, leaving a glass of blue liquid beside his bed for him to drink. The Slytherin witch crossed her arms and leaned against the door frame, an amused smile on her face. The blond only looked away an irritated look on his.

"Yes, I know. You warned me."  
"I hate to say this... but I told you so."  
"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and feel bad for me now." Draco chuckled "I've been injured."  
"Once you drink that horrendous blue sludge, you'll feel much better." Ellie said, sitting at the edge of his cot  
"Is it that bad?"  
"Oh, yes. I drank that shit last year when we were playing against-"  
"Ravenclaw. Roger Davies tackled you into the stands and you got a very large splinter in your leg." the boy said "I remember. I had to deal with you limping for a week."  
"You had to 'deal' with me?" Ella asked, making Draco smile cheekily "You've gone too far, Malfoy."

Elizabeth unconsciously wiped the tears from her eyes. She was still smiling, but Malfoy saw right through that. His eyebrows furrowed, which made her eyebrows furrow. This was one of the times that Draco Malfoy was a semi-decent human being.

"You all right, Ella?"  
"Yeah... I'll live. I just hate it when my sis- when Hermione tells me what I can and can't do."  
"What did she do this time?" Malfoy growled  
"Don't get your knickers in a twist, _Drakeypoo_." Elizabeth argued "She just hates it when I talk to you."  
"Yeah, well I can't help that you think I'm irresistible."  
"Shut up."  
"Irresistible."  
"Not."  
"Irresistible."  
"Whatever. Drink your blue stuff and let's go before Pansy gets here and starts crying about your arm."

Ella got up from Draco's cot and walked across the room. She heard Malfoy cough, which meant he drank the disgusting blue liquid. The girl turned and rolled her eyes when she saw that he was making himself a sling for his perfectly fine arm. The boy shrugged with a cheeky smile. He was going to milk this for all it was worth, and the attention he was going to get from the other Slytherins would only feed his large ego. But Elizabeth didn't care. All she cared about at the moment, was the satisfied look she had on her face when Hermione scowled in her direction.


	38. Mother and Father are Riddikulus!

Elizabeth walked into the Great Hall, Draco by her side. Of course his arm was in a sling and he was going to lay it on as thick as he could, but Liz didn't care. All she cared about was the fact that he was okay and that her sister was glaring at her. She had no reason according to the Slytherin. She just wanted to make sure that her... _friend_ was all right. Which he _definitely_ was. Malfoy and her sat down at their house table, four or five housemates gathering around to ask if the blond was all right. Across the hall, Harry, Ron and Hermione were all staring back at her and Draco. The three of them were glaring at Malfoy; only Hermione was glaring at her 'sister'. Unfortunately, as Elizabeth predicted, Pansy Parkinson made big fuss about Draco's arm.

"Does it hurt terribly, Draco?"  
"It comes and goes." he said, a tad theatrical "Still... I consider myself lucky. According to Madam Pomfrey, another minute or two... I could've lost the arm."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and breathed out a small chuckle as the blond wizard winked at her. _Bloody idiot_ , she thought. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. Amir Ferran, accompanied by at least a dozen people had congregated next to Liz. The Egyptian held the _Daily Prophet_ in his hands and showed his friend.

"He has been sighted!"  
"What? Who?" Elizabeth asked, then realized " _Sirius Black_?"

The boy nodded his head furiously. This was not good. But wait, maybe it was far away from here... Achintee. That wasn't far away from here. Bugger. Liz nervously ran her fingers through her hair and began to chew on her nails. Amir pushed her hand away.

"You don't think he'd come here, right?" Adrian Pucey asked  
"With the Dementors at every entrance? Please." Malfoy scoffed  
"Dementors?" Ella questioned, slightly panicked "He's gotten passed them once before. Who says he won't do it again?"  
"That's right." Zabini added, a smirk on his face "Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke. Like trying to catch smoke with your bare hands."  
"What's with the grin, Zabini?"  
"Oh, _this_?" he said, pointing to his smile "I just hope he comes here and takes what he came for."

Amir crumpled the newspaper in his hands and stood rapidly, towering over his fellow Slytherin. If Elizabeth had learned something about the transfer student, it's that he had a very strong sense of morals and a very short temper. He wouldn't take hate from _anyone_ and he wouldn't let _any_ of his friends take any either, _especially_ Ella. When someone insulted her, his temper would be lost immediately. It was like a slowly filling glass. There was no problem, no outward sign of fury until the liquid reached the top, then all bets were off. If you were smart, like Zabini was in this instant, you ran for cover.

The Egyptian then turned to the rest of the people who were smirking, just like Blaise. Immediately, their smirks fell and they walked away, definitely wanting to avoid the boy's fury. His gaze softened, however, when he looked over at Elizabeth who was trying not to laugh at the Slytherins who had run off, tails between their legs. Amir grabbed her hand and dragged her away, his gaze still hard.

"Thanks..." Liz said, smiling up at him  
"It was my pleasure." the boy replied, his features instantly softening when he looked at her

The two friends walked hand in hand down the hallway to their next class; Defense Against the Dark Arts. Luckily, she didn't have this class with Malfoy or her sister so she could actually pay attention, unless Amir was going to be a dork again. This scenario was very likely. Upon entering the class, the boy dragged the girl to the front of the group that was standing in the center of the desk-less classroom. Before them stood professor Lupin, who looked slightly better than he did the last time Elizabeth had seen him. She smiled at him when he looked her way. She then noticed the large rattling wardrobe behind him. Most students were looking at it wearily, including Ellie.

"Hello, class. I'm sure you all know who I am so let's skip the introductions and get right to it!" the man smiled warmly then looked at the cabinet behind him "Intriguing, yes? Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what's inside?"  
"That's a boggart, that is." a random Ravenclaw said  
"Very good, Mr. Jones. Can anyone tell us what a Boggart looks like?"  
"No one knows." Liz said automatically "Boggarts are shape-shifters. They take the shape of whatever a particular person fears most."  
"That is correct." the teacher smiled at her "Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a Boggart. Let's practice it now, shall we? Without wands, please... _Riddikulus_!"

The class chorused.

"Good. So much for the easy part." Lupin chuckled "You see, the incantation alone is not enough. What really finishes a Boggart off is... _laughter_. You need to force it to assume a shape you find truly amusing."

Professor Lupin asked for everyone to form a line. Everyone would take turns in front of the Boggart and send it away with the charm. Jones was first, so he put a clown costume on Professor McGonagall. Student after student went up and cast their Boggart away. Liz laughed a lot more than she thought she would, but it was near her turn and she couldn't figure out what scared her most. At first she thought about the Dementors on the train, but when she stepped in front of the Boggart she thought about how much she'd hate standing in front of Sirius Black, him trying to take her to You-Know-Who. Maybe she was afraid of Him? Lupin cast a concerned glance in her direction. He seemed genuinely worried about something. The Boggart took longer to change into her fear than the rest of the group. Suddenly, the large rubber duck shifted into the gaunt and sallow features of Sirius Black. The whole class let out a gasp and took a few steps back. Liz raised her wand as the figure took a step towards her. It didn't help that the Boggart began speaking to her in Sirius Black's voice.

" _Elizabeth_... It's time to take you home... where you belong."

Ella's indifferent demeanor faltered. Her eyes grew wide and her breath got caught in her throat. _He's not real, Liz_ , she told herself. The Boggart took another step forward. She took another step back.

"You're _not_ real..." Ellie whispered to herself  
"Of course I am. I'm real inside your head and that's all that really matters, now isn't it?" Black let out a bark of laughter "The Dark lord is waiting for you, _Rose_... You can't escape who you really are!"

Suddenly, as the Boggart began to lurch forward, professor Lupin jumped in front of it, stopping Sirius Black and making it morph into a large white sphere. The teacher shouted _Riddikulus_ and the orb turned into a deflating balloon, and whizzed back into the wardrobe. The class cheered as the door slammed shut and the Boggart was contained.

"Well done, everyone. I think that's enough excitement for today."

As the students exited, chattering loudly, only Elizabeth, subdued, remained behind. Amir tried to pry her away from her spot, but the girl was frozen in place. Lupin nodded at the boy, who left, leaving the professor to deal with the terrified student. She didn't like the feeling at all. It was the feeling of tightening in her chest. It was the way that if she parted her lips, no sound would come out. It was the way the fear robbed her of her senses and replaced them with something that made her muscles contract and eyes widen in dread. It was pure, unadulterated terror.

The wardrobe quivered again, causing Elizabeth to flinch but also snap out of her daze. Lupin was standing beside her, a genuinely worried expression on his features. She never noticed the scars on his face until now. There were a lot of them.

"Sorry..." the girl mumbled  
"Don't be sorry, Elizabeth. Can I call you, Elizabeth?" she nodded "You can't control what the Boggart turns into and how you react."  
"Professor... Can I ask you something?"  
"You'd like to know why I stopped that Boggart for you." he man said, then continued seeing Liz's face "I should think it'd be obvious. I assumed the Boggart would take the shape of the Dementor from the train."

Elizabeth shuddered and frowned.

"Well, I did think of that, but... I don't understand why the Boggart chose Sirius Black."  
"Clearly I was wrong." Lupin noted, leading the student to his office and seating themselves  
"Well, at first I thought of the Dementors... but then I thought about _Sirius Black_ taking me to _You-Know-Who_. Then I thought that maybe I was afraid of _Him_..."  
"Well, well. I'm impressed, Elizabeth." Lupin smiled "That suggests that what you fear most of all is... fear itself. Very wise."

The girl then thought of something she'd been wanting to know since the very first day at Hogwarts. What exactly did she hear just before she fainted, on the train, that night? She heard a woman screaming, then a man crying... Harry heard the woman, but not the man.

"Before I fainted... I heard something. A woman and a man. She was screaming... he was crying." Rose said, looking down at her lap  
"And what do you make of that?"  
"I don't-" then it hit her. She quickly looked up finding Lupin studying her "My parents? I mean... my real parents?"

The professor sighed and gazed at her eyes. He seemed hesitant toward something. If only Elizabeth knew what he was thinking.

"I'm not sure whether I should be telling you this... But when I first saw you. I recognized you."  
"You... recognized me?"  
"I remember those eyes... You have your mother's eyes..."  
"You knew my mother!?"

At this time, Elizabeth was standing up, hands placed firmly on the desk in front of her. Her eyes were wide in anticipation, the fear of Sirius Black long gone. Its effects replaced with pure curiosity.

"Yes. I knew her. She was there for me at a time when no one else was..." Lupin smiled to himself "She was there for your father too... We used to talk for hours on end. She was not only a singularly gifted witch but an uncommonly kind woman. She had a way of seeing the beauty in whoever she met, even - and perhaps most especially - when that person couldn't see it in themselves..."

Lupin's eyes glazed over in memory. He blinked rapidly and turned to Elizabeth, smiling affectionately.

"Which perhaps explains her... affection for your father. He was a sorely misunderstood man... He still is."


	39. Hogsmeade

It was a beautiful autumn day. Far enough from summer to have lost the heat and not close enough to winter to have that bite of cold. The leaves had begun to fall and rain was in the forecast. On her way up the cobblestone path, Elizabeth pulled her coat closer to herself, avoiding people's gazes. A great buzzing queue of students - Third Years and older - each clutching a permission form - passed by a glowering Filch.

"Remember! These visits to Hogsmeade Village are a privilege. Should your behaviour reflect poorly on the school in any way, that privilege shall not be extended again," Liz heard McGonagall shout to the group

Filch glared and growled at her when the Slytherin handed him her permission slip. Thankfully her 'parents' had signed it, unlike Harry who was pleading to professor McGonagall to let him in or have her sign it. Elizabeth felt bad of course, but she didn't care at the moment. Thoughts about what Lupin had said were running through her head. But she wanted to ignore that. Hence the trip alone to Hogsmeade. The girl observed all the happy faces around her. Friends walked two by two or three by three, giggling and talking about the small town. Jade green eyes averted their happiness, and focused upon the shops.

The first building to catch her eye was the famous Honeydukes, known for their sweets. _Why not?_ thought Elizabeth. And so, she entered. There were shelves upon shelves of the most succulent-looking sweets imaginable. The girl's smile finally grew. Creamy chunks of nougat, shimmering pink squares of coconut ice, fat, honey-coloured toffees; hundreds of different kinds of chocolate in neat rows were all over the shop. She ran her fingers over large barrels of Every Flavour Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizzbees and the levitating sherbet balls that Ron had mentioned, in awe. This was Heaven. 'Special Effects' sweets like Drooble's Best Blowing Gum (which filled a room with bluebell-coloured bubbles that refused to pop for days), the strange, splintery Toothflossing Stringmints, tiny black Pepper Imps ('breathe fire for your friends!'), Ice Mice ('hear your teeth chatter and squeak!'), peppermint creams shaped like toads ('hop realistically in the stomach!') , fragile sugar-spun quills and exploding bonbons were only some other things that filled the colourful shop. The Slytherin student made her way around the shop, her jade orbs widening in awe. Obviously, before exiting, she had purchased a few things for herself and for Harry, since he wasn't able to come.

Upon exiting, a few chunks of chocolate in her mouth, Liz crossed the street to the next shop that caught her eye. The store was wedged between two taller buildings. It looked squeezed, as if the neighbours were closing in. The sign was old, some letters had become illegible in the peeling paint. But the window was clean and the items on display were clearly new. Inside, there was a theme, a colour coordination that warmed Liz's heart. Dark hues of reds, purples and browns gave an overall grand atmosphere to Dominic Maestro's music shop. It was definitely bigger on the inside because instead of being crammed together like she'd expected, the instruments and books were almost artistically arranged. It was pristine. Then, with some kerfuffle, an old gent emerged from the back, his attire matching his shop. Elizabeth was too busy looking around at the guitars and pianos to notice him. All shiny and pitch black, the row of pure ivory keys march into view. Usually Liz would play guitar, but she'd never play something that wasn't Nota. It was disrespectful apparently. The girl set her bags on the ground and gently seated herself in front of one of the grand pianos, her fingers hovering over the keys. _This is Hermione's thing, not mine_ , she thought.

"Do you play?"

Liz looked up, startled. It was the owner, Dominic Maestro.

"Well, yes... But my si- friend is better."  
"Let's see."

Elizabeth started with something simple; Beethoveen's Ode to Joy. She then graduated to something she'd seen Hermione play; the Moonlight Sonata. She'd always watch her when she played that song, and practised by memory when she was done. The Slytherin's fingers flew across the keys, each sound resonating just as long as it was needed. It wasn't perfect, but the girl thought she'd managed quite well. The song ended and Ella was brought out of her trance by Maestro who was gently clapping.

"Very good. Very good indeed..." he said, just above a whisper "If you'd like, when you are permitted to visit Hogsmeade, I can teach you."  
"Really? It would be an honour, Sir!"

The man simply nodded and smiled as Elizabeth exited the shop, the sound of Maestro's piano playing in her ears. So far, Liz hadn't even thought about her predicament. There were no thoughts about her real parents or about what Lupin had said. The girl, since she had another few hours to spare, made her way to Tomes and Scrolls, a new potions book in mind. Maybe she'd buy Harry a new Herbology book since he and Ron dropped some Puffapods onto the grown and ruined it. Established in 1768, Tomes and Scrolls was a speciality bookshop that looked and smelled as old as it was. The wonderful smell of musty old books filled Elizabeth's nose as she went to the front desk and asked where she could find the books she wanted. Quickly, she found a new Herbology book for Harry. The back of the store was where she'd find her potions book. Of course she owned every book possible, except for the one she'd use if she ever got to N.E.W.T level potions class. So naturally, she had to buy it. It wasn't hard to find, considering it was the only purple book amongst black and deep brown. Ignoring the fact it wasn't proper public conduct, Ellie sat cross-legged on the ground, the book open on her lap. Her coat was tossed aside as well as her purchases from Honeydukes and Spintwitches (she bought some shining wax for her broom). As she was about to read about Everlasting Elixirs, a clearing throat interrupter her reading.

"I don't think it wise to be seated on the floor, Miss Granger."  
"Oh! uh, Professor. Hello, uh yes, I'm aware." Liz stuttered as she stood, brushing herself off. "Sorry."  
"Don't apologize, it was merely a suggestion." Snape said.  
"Right, sor- of course, Sir."

The tall professor then grabbed a book off the shelf and turned around, walking away silently and swiftly. Elizabeth let out a shaky breath. _That was awkward,_ she thought. Why did she even care what he thought? He was only her professor. And what was he doing here?

"Buying a book, you knob." she told herself, face-palming.  
"Is it a regular occurrence for you to hit yourself?"  
"Oh, hey, hi, hello. No, it isn't."  
"You seem startled. Are you all right?" Amir asked, a concerned look on his face.  
"What? Oh, no, I'm fine." Liz chuckled, embarrassed. "What're you doing here?"  
"'Buying a book, you knob.'"  
"Oh, shut up."

The two walked out of the shop after Liz paid for her things. With an arm slung lazily over her shoulder, Elizabeth listened to Amir talk. He wasn't talking about anything in particular, just the usual chatter. But it was evident the boy was a sliver tongue. The way he said just the right thing to everyone could probably get him out of any trouble he'd cause. It also helped that Ella simply loved the sound of his voice. It was soothing. Maybe it was because of his accent or simply the tone of his voice, but the girl could have listened to it all day long.

As the two walked down the main street, Amir suggested they go to The Three Broomsticks since he was getting cold. He wasn't used to the Scotland weather, yet. The inn and pub was warm, crowded, and a bit smoky, but clean and welcoming. A mirror behind the bar reflected the cosy atmosphere and the many tables in the room, filled with happy witches and wizards. Drinks such as Butterbeer and Firewhiskey were served in glasses and in foaming pewter tankards, as well as Gillywater, mulled mead, red currant rum, and even cherry syrup and soda with ice and an umbrella. Wildly exotic for Elizabeth who was only used to seeing the occasional glass of wine in her 'parents'' hands. Amir and her took a seat at a table far from the entrance as to not be attacked by a large gust of cold wind. Madam Rosemerta came to take their orders and came back with them, leaving the two friends to chat about their purchases and stupid things Amir had done in class again all while sipping on their non-alcoholic Butterbeers. But their fun was interrupted by a familiar blond.

"Hey, Ella. Ferran." Malfoy glared at the latter.  
"Malfoy."  
"Hey, Draco. How's the arm?" the girl smirked.  
"It still hurts a little."  
"Liar..." Amir said under his breath.  
"What was that, Ferran? Did you just call me a liar?"  
"What if I did?"  
"Then that would have been a dumb idea."  
"Not as dumb as-"  
"BOYS!" Liz shouted, causing both glaring boys to turn to her.  
"What!?" they chorused.  
"Do not imitate me, Malfoy." Amir said dangerously low.  
"'Do not imitate me, Malfoy.' God, you sound so stupid."  
"Stupid? I am not the one who cries for his father every time something displeases him!"  
"Okay, that's enough!"

The Slytherin witch grabbed her bags, swung them over her shoulder and grabbed both boys by their arms, dragging outside. She then shoved them in front of her, crossed her arms and stuck out her hip, visibly angry at the two boys. Why did they not get along? It was probably because they were both prideful and had bad tempers. Nothing unusual for a Slytherin, however. It couldn't have been the only reason. Liz looked over at Amir and raised a questioning eyebrow. He immediately looked ashamed, and Rose knew he was going to apologize, whether it'd be now or later. Draco Malfoy on the other hand, had his arms crossed over his chest, back straightened, making him seem taller than he actually was. He was kind of terrifying when he wanted to be. Ella stared at him, expecting him to be afraid of her like he usually was, but it didn't work this time. For some odd reason, Draco kept glaring at Amir, then at her. But when he looked at her, something shone in his eye. Something she'd never seen before. Elizabeth wasn't sure whether she should be worried or not.

"Amir, meet me back in the Dungeons." the girl said curtly. The boy nodded and walked away "As for you..."  
"What about me?" Malfoy spat  
"What is your problem? You know your arm is fine!"  
"So?"  
"So? _So?_ " Elizabeth said exasperated " _So_ , don't give him any grief about it."  
"Why not? I can do whatever I want to do." Draco replied  
"That's not the point, Draco. He's my friend, and I don't appreciate people behind twats around my friends!"  
"Oh, and I'm not your friend?"

Draco spat those words out like venom. Elizabeth suddenly felt a sharp pain in her chest; it hurt more than she'd expected. Of course Draco could be a prat, a spoiled brat, a twat, even an arsehole, but that didn't mean she wanted to hear those words from him. Especially the way he said them. He sounded almost insulted, betrayed by her unspoken words. That's what hurt most. Elizabeth's face slowly softened, her stony expression melting like snow in the spring. She let out a sigh and loosened her grip on her bags, slowly dropping them to the ground. The blond observed her quietly, anger still in his eyes. But that anger left when the girl's head hung low and he heard a muffled apology. The boy hesitated for a second. Should he? Should he not? What would his father say about this? But his "stupid feelings" got the better of him, and slowly he moved forward, grabbing the girl's shoulder and gently pulling her towards him. A light gasp escaped her lips as her forehead came into contact with Draco's chest and his arms hesitantly weaved their way around her, trapping her in an awkward hug.

"I'm not going to apologise, because I don't do that." the boy admitted, a small smirk tugging at his lips "But I can tell you one thing."  
"And what's that?" Ella said, her voice muffled by Draco's coat

He was unusually warm, the opposite of what you'd expect given his attitude and reputation, and smelled of some sort of cologne, mingling with the aroma of charcoal flames and cinnamon. Liz smiled unconsciously.

"You're probably the only real friend I have."


	40. Sleeping Bags

"Liz! Liz!"

Harry ran through the crowd of students trying to reach his raven-haired friend. He was sure that she heard him, but it seemed she wasn't slowing down her pace, clearly going to the dungeons. The boy quickened his pace, clumsily bumping into a few students, and stuck out his arm, grasping Elizabeth's shoulders in the process.

"Liz! Slow down!"  
"Not right now, Harry." she said simply  
"Why not?" he asked  
"I have someone to go yell at."  
"Who?"  
"Amir."  
"Why? I thought you two were like 'bestest friends in the whole world' or something." Harry joked  
"We are. But he still can't badmouth my other friends."  
"It was Malfoy, right? I heard people talking about it."

The girl groaned and paused, massaging her temples.

"Why can't I have a personal life." Liz grumbled  
"If it makes you feel any better, I don't have one either. Plus, I didn't get to go to Hogsmeade."  
"Well, it doesn't make me feel better. But here, I got something for you."

Out of her bag, the Slytherin pulled out the Herbology book she purchased as well as the large bag of candy she got from Honeydukes. Harry's eyes sparkled at both gifts.

"Think of it as... an early Christmas gift."  
"Liz, I- thank you!" the boy smiled, trapping her in a hug  
"Seriously, more hugs?" the witch sighed. Still, she was smiling  
"More hugs?" Harry questioned, pulling away  
"Long story. Now, I've got to go scold a toddler."  
"Yeah, okay. See you around, Liz."  
"See you around, Harry."

If there was one thing Ella liked about Harry was the fact that he could look past the fact she talked to Malfoy and still be friends with her, for now anyways. Unlike Hermione who would glare at her every chance she got. On the outside, Liz looked like she didn't care, that her 'sister's' hurtful stares or words didn't affect her... but they did. They hurt more than Elizabeth would like to admit. It was like a dagger piercing her heart. But did she show it? No. She had too much pride to admit it to others, and herself. But that wasn't the only thing that got to her.

The feud between Malfoy and Amir was worse than you'd think. Elizabeth and Amir would spend every possible moment together. They'd sit together in classes in which she would normally sit with Draco. Liz would sometimes skip History of Magic and hang out with her friend since it was his free period, and vice versa when he had transfiguration. The two of them would spend hours together on the weekend, sitting underneath 'their' beech tree. They were inseparable, just like she and Hermione used to be. Malfoy, for some odd reason, didn't appreciate all the extra attention the Egyptian was getting from the Slytherin witch. She thought it was because they'd tease him behind his back and he'd found out, but it was more than that. Over the course of three years Malfoy had gained a certain attachment toward the Muggle-Born. He wouldn't say he was possessive, but my was he. He had something just within his grasp, something he worked so hard for, and all that work just so it could be taken away from some new kid? No. Malfoy's got what they wanted. And so, the tension built between the two boys was becoming almost unbearable to Elizabeth, who was stuck in the middle of it all. Add to that the fact that Elizabeth was literally having an identity crisis, you got a seriously confused, angry, stressed and scared teenager.

What Lupin had told didn't help either. He knew her parents? Then why wouldn't he tell her who they were? The way he formulated his sentences, made it absolutely impossible for her mother to be alive. It wasn't that big of a deal, she'd never met her. But it seemed, to Elizabeth, that Lupin suggested her father... was still alive. Somewhere deep inside, Liz knew her intuition was right, and that her dad still lived. She also refused to believe that You-Know-Who and Lupin were the only ones who knew. Maybe Dumbledore knew? Maybe Professor Snape knew? Maybe even that stupid house elf, Dobby, knew? But those were all assumptions, without evidence or answers.

Rose made her way through the dark and dank corridor of the dungeons, uttering the password and entering the Common Room. Immediately, a dark head of perfectly styled hair whipped around, revealing the hazel eyes of Amir Ferran. The boy rose quickly and stood in front of her, a pained and guilty look in his eyes. If he was faking this, he was a damn good actor.

"My most sincere apologies, Rose."  
"How formal can a sentence get?" the girl chuckled  
"That is the extent of my formality, I am afraid." Amir smiled  
"Do you ever use contractions?"  
"Not if I can help it... Am I forgiven?"  
"Yeah, yeah. You're forgiven." Liz sighed, waving her hand dismissively "Just don't yell at him. At least not in front of me."  
"I can assure you that it will never happen again."  
"Says the criminal convicted of the crime."

* * *

"SLEEPOVER!"  
"I don't get why you're so excited to be sleeping on the cold hard floor, Ella. I swear-"  
"Your father will hear about this, I know. You've only said it about twenty times."

Earlier, just before curfew, rumours began to spread about something happening to the Fat Lady; the guard of Gryffindor tower. When the professors instructed the students that they'd be sleeping in the Great Hall while they searched the castle, this only further proved that Sirius Black had entered the castle. The Fat Lady's portrait had been slashed and the woman so terrified she hid in another painting. Elizabeth's best guess was that Black was trying to get to Harry, but obviously didn't have the password. To say that Liz was scared was an understatement. The man who supposedly wanted to kidnap her was loose in the castle and no one knew how to find him. Even if they did, the man escaped from Azkaban... He had the upper hand anyway.

"And why do you look so happy? The freak who wants to kidnap you may be in the castle!" Malfoy continued, trying to extract information  
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were scared, Draco." Liz smiled slyly  
"Am not. I'm just wo-"  
"What?"  
"Nothing. Nevermind."

Draco and Elizabeth walked on and occupied two sleeping bags immediately. Unfortunately for him, they were close to Harry. A few mean comments were exchanged but nothing more.

It had been a few hours since the children were told to go to sleep, but you could still hear the occasional whisper here and there, which was stopped by a teacher almost immediately. Ellie laid on her back, eyes wide open and unable to sleep a wink. Beside her, Malfoy slept as still as a brick. The only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest. It was hard to imagine that this was the same boy that tore around from sun up to sun down, terrorizing younger and older students alike, putting spiders in Ron's hair and being arrogant about everything. In sleep he was almost angelic, his face no longer contorted in that stupid sneer Elizabeth hated so much. Instead, his face was set in a gentle smile. It transformed him from someone menacing to someone you wished you knew. It was a shame that Draco rarely ever cracked a genuine grin. Usually it was a prideful smirk that drew itself on his lips when he got what he wanted or successfully annoyed Harry. It was a shame because there was something about the way he smiled. He had the kind of smile that made Elizabeth feel happy even when she had no desire to be.

The moonlight peeked through the windows and shone around the room, making the enchanted ceilings' stars seem to glow brighter. Crickets sang their constant song. The slow breathing of hundreds of students hummed in the hall. Suddenly, a gentle shuffling caught Liz's attention. She closed her eyes, hearing the approaching footsteps, feigning sleep.

"I've done the dungeons, Headmaster. No sign of Black." she recognized professor Snape's voice "Nor anywhere else in the castle."  
"I didn't really expect him to linger." she heard Dumbledore reply in his unmistakably soft voice  
"Remarkable feat, don't you think? To enter Hogwarts castle on one's own, completely undetected... You may recall, prior to the start of term, I did express my concerns when you appointed Professor-"  
"I do not believe a single professor inside this castle would have helped Sirius Black enter it, Severus."

As Snape's eyes glitter darkly, Dumbledore gazes out over the slumbering students. _Who was he about to accuse?_ Liz thought.

"No... I feel quite confident the castle is safe. And I'm more than willing to let the students return to their Houses. But tomorrow. For now, let them sleep..." the Headmaster continued "It's astonishing what the body can endure when the mind allows itself to rest."


	41. Defence Against the Dark Arts

Lupin was sick _again_. Unsurprising since he spent most of the year looking as if death had washed over him. Also unsurprisingly, it was professor Snape who filled his position for the time being as well as his usual potions master duties. Everyone knew he was after the Defence Against the Dark Arts position. Elizabeth thought he deserved it even though she'd definitely miss him as her potion's professor. Maybe he could do both like he was today? Doubtful that Dumbledore would allow it, however.

The young Slytherin sat in the front row of desks, Draco by her side. It was the only Defence class she had without Amir and with Hermione, whom, even though class wasn't even started, was already getting on her could hear her badmouthing Snape again; Ron and Harry were smart and stayed quiet, opting for a simple glare instead. With a loud snapping sound, the dark professor pulled down a screen over the blackboard then turned to face the students. Yes, witches and wizards had something similar to a projector...

"Turn to page 394." Snape drawled

Ellie obeyed and eyed the content of the pages before her. Werewolves? But they hadn't even finished learning about Redcaps and Hinkypunks... Nocturnal beasts were only meant to be learned in a few weeks. Why would they begin- wait. There was a reason to everything Severus Snape did, that much Liz knew. Draco gave her weird looks and tried to snap her out of her daze; it didn't work. Elizabeth was too concentrated on her thoughts. All the times he'd been sick... His Boggart... Could Lupin be- no. He couldn't. Dumbledore would know and would never allow it... Right?

"Excuse me, sir, but... where's professor Lupin?" Harry asked, causing the Slytherin to look over at her head of house for answers  
"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter? Suffice to say, your Professor finds himself incapable of teaching at the time." the man replied, then insisted "Page 394."

Suddenly, all books flew open to the desired page of those who hadn't already opened them. Elizabeth giggled at Draco's surprised expression. A few seconds later, Ella's eyebrows furrowed and she turned her head towards an annoying scratching sound. It was Malfoy drawing something on a piece of parchment which he turned into a moth, and blew it away towards the Gryffindors. Luckily when it passed by Snape's face he simply waved it away, letting it land on Harry's desk. Liz shot Draco and annoyed look to which he replied with a cheeky smile; she couldn't resist that stupid look on his face and rolled her eyes, lips traced in a smile.

"But sir, we've only just begun learning about Redcaps and Hinkypunks. We're not supposed to be starting nocturnal beasts for another few weeks-"  
"Quiet!" Snape snapped, interrupting Hermione, much to Liz and Malfoy's amusement "Now. Which of you can tell me the difference between an Animagus and a werewolf?" Snape asked

 _Easy_ , Ella thought as the entirety of the class stared mutely at an image of an attacking werewolf, on the screen. The Slytherin saw, out of the corner of her eye, Hermione's face twitching, waiting desperately for someone to answer. Ellie rolled her eyes and looked towards her professor. He glanced her way; Liz could answer and he knew it.

"Miss Granger."  
"An Animagus-"  
"Silence!" the professor shouted at Hermione who instantly looked confused "I meant Elizabeth Granger, you dunderhead. That is the second time you've spoken out of turn. Tell me, are you incapable of restraining yourself, or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?" Snape asked, causing Hermione to go silent and Elizabeth to smirk

Snape glanced back towards the latter, awaiting an answer.

"An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A werewolf, however, has no choice in the matter. Furthermore, the werewolf actively hunts humans and responds only to the call of its own kind-"

Suddenly, Draco howled loudly, causing the class to burst into a fit of quiet laughter.

"Quiet, Malfoy! Though one must admit to feeling your excitement. That will five points to Slytherin - well done, miss Granger - and five points will be taken away from Gryffindor, courtesy of the _other_ Granger. Also, as an antidote to your ignorance, I prescribe two rolls of parchment on the werewolf by Monday morning, with particular emphasis placed on recognizing it." Snape continued, then said suddenly, stopping in front of Harry "Passing notes, Potter?"

Snape snatched a piece of parchment from under Harry's nose. It was Malfoy's paper moth. Liz could have sworn seeing Snape's ink-like orbs flicker towards the blond boy.

"Not exactly Picasso, are you? I hope you demonstrate more talent on the Quidditch pitch this weekend then you do as an artist. If not, I fear you'll perish, given the weather forecast. Until that time, however, you'll forgive me if I don't let you off homework. Should you die, I assure you... you need not hand it in."

As Snape turned away, Malfoy sniggered with Crabbe and Goyle. Elizabeth was too concentrated to bother scolding him for getting her friend in trouble, because it was now official in her mind; Lupin was a werewolf. Snape's essay was the last piece of the puzzle. He knew as well, and he wanted the students to figure it out as well... Could it be Lupin he was accusing the other night, then, of helping Sirius Black into the castle?


	42. Elizabeth

The golden Quidditch rings and the clouds boomed with icy blue light. Far below, in the stands, rain lashed the sea of umbrellas. As one flew free, soaring end over end into the sky, the crowd exploded and two Quidditch squads - Gryffindor in scarlet, Hufflepuff in canary yellow - shot into the air. Twin bludgers fired skyward, and the match was on. But that's not where Liz was. Elizabeth was in the library with Amir, revising for a Study of Ancient Runes test they had next period. She would have gone and cheered for Harry, but two Slytherins in a sea of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs wasn't a great idea. It would have been tolerated had Ellie and Hermione been talking, but they hadn't spoken in weeks and neither of them was making any effort to do so. Liz and Ron were close, but he'd cower in fear when Hermione even glanced his way when she was mad... so she had no chance there either. That's why Rose and Amir were bored out their minds, quizzing each other about the Runespoor and the Fwooper.

"What represents four and why?" Elizabeth asked, her head on the table  
"The Fwooper, because it's tail feathers are of four different colours - orange, pink, lime green and yellow." the Egyptian responded, sending a paper airplane towards the top of her head  
"Right again..." the girl said unenthusiastic, her forehead still flat against the table "Do we even need to study? I mean we know everything we have to know."  
"Rose, my dear, you are correct." Amir said, a sly smile making its way onto his lips "I suggest an extracurricular activity."

Elizabeth lifted her head and rested her chin on the table, a dark eyebrow quirked in the boy's direction. She saw his smile; it was never a good sign.

"What now? Are we going to trap Peeves in the girls' bathroom again or are we going to set Cornish Pixies on McGonagall this time?"  
"Neither. We are going to let some Doxy in the Hufflepuff common room."  
"Doxy!?" Liz gasped "But they're pests! And a bite on your finger can make your hand swell three times its size!"  
"My thoughts exactly, Rose."

There was moment of silence.

"Count me in, Ramses."  
"Ramses?"  
"Don't ask. Let's go."

The two friends packed their things in hurried excitement. An excitement that was short-lived when professor Snape walked into the library looking more solemn as usual - if that was even possible. Elizabeth immediately stopped and stared, waiting for her professor to speak. But even though it took him a while to pronounce anything, she knew something was wrong; her intuition never failed her.

"Mr. Ferran, please excuse us."

Amir looked up at Liz who gave him a slight nod. He quietly left the room, on his way to planning the Hufflepuff attack. Snape's eyes then shifted back to Elizabeth's features. Her long black hair was up in a bun that she had made in a fraction of a second, stray locks falling either side of her face. Her green eyes looked somewhat sunken, a troubled look glimmering in them. She looked tired. She didn't look the same as she did in her first year; Liz had grown up too quickly for her own good.

"Professor McGonagall and I found it necessary to tell you that Mr. Potter is in the hospital wing." Snape said slowly, his dark orbs examining his student's reaction  
"What happened?" the girl asked hurriedly, evidently panicked  
"He took his broom too high during the Quidditch match. The Dementors thought he was trying to escape."  
"That doesn't even make sense..." Liz whispered to herself  
"Speak up, Miss Granger." the professor said sternly  
"That doesn't even make sense. Why would Dementors be _inside_ the grounds?"

Rose spun on her heels and collected her robes and book bag. Swinging them both over her shoulders, she walked past her professor with multiple thoughts rushing through her mind, Harry's health being the main thought.

"Miss Granger, Potter isn't even conscious. I advise you wait until he is." Snape called, an annoyed hint in his voice  
"I'm not going to see Harry, professor. Thanks anyway."

Liz slammed the door open and walked out quickly, causing Madam Pince to shush her loudly. Snape would have rolled his eyes or passed a comment had he not been questioning his student's future actions. What was she going to do if it wasn't going to see her classmate? Hopefully she didn't do anything stupid.

* * *

A gentle breeze rustled the branches of the Whomping Willow and rippled the surface of the Black Lake. Aslan, Elizabeth's feline companion, leaped from her arms as she walked across the grounds, Professor Lupin by her side. The girl had questions and the new professor seemed to be the one who had the most answers. She would ask Dumbledore, but his answers always came in the form of more questions or obscure riddles that only confused her further.

"Professor, why do the Dementors affect Harry and I? More than others, I mean..."  
"Dementors are among the foulest creatures that walk this earth." Lupin said solemnly "They feed on every good feeling, every happy memory, until a person is left with nothing but his worst experiences... You're not weak, Elizabeth. The Dementors affect you most, because there are true horrors in your past. Horrors your classmates can scarcely imagine. You have nothing to be ashamed of."  
"But I don't even know what those horrors are, professor!" Ella said exasperated "The only thing I know, is that I have no idea who I am or where I come from. Basically, I know nothing about anything... And I'm terrified."  
"I'd consider you a fool if you weren't."  
"But that doesn't change the fact that I want - I need to know who I am, Professor."  
"And you think I have the answers to your questions?" Lupin asked, casting his student a side glance  
"You knew my mother - isn't that enough to assume you do?" Elizabeth stated, stopping mid-stride to stare at her teacher

Lupin let out a sigh and shoved his hands into his pockets. He had a forlorn expression on his face as if recalling happy memories turned sour. He turned to Elizabeth, his light brown eyes glazed over, and smiled meekly. Right then, the girl knew he wasn't going to tell her - hopefully she was wrong and she'd finally find out who her mother and father were.

"If you truly want to know who your mother is I suggest you speak with the Headmaster. I am not permitted to speak of this with you... Dumbledore's orders."  
"But I don't want Dumbledore to tell me." Liz huffed, crossing her arms  
"Then I have an alternative solution."

* * *

When Lupin said "solution", Elizabeth was hoping for a quick and easy escape, not a full weekend in the library; violating the reference section of the Hogwarts school library wasn't her kind of solution. She'd never been in the library long enough to notice the dust collected everywhere as far as the eye could see, all the spider webs woven loosely around books, dirtied shelves, and stands. But the ground was clear, multiple footsteps ridding it of dirt, dust and torn paper. The crevices in the wall allowed small amounts light to filter inside along with thin ropes of ivy. In the back of the library, reserved for the mostly untouched part of the reference section, dust floated lazily in the air giving Ella a difficult time breathing, and every time she ran her fingers across the book spines it put more of it in to the air. All that was heard were the faint chirps of birds outside, the whispering of students, and the rustling of papers catching the draft.

Rose's eyes darted from page to page of various books. _Modern Magical History_ , _Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century_ , and _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_ were amongst many titles taken away from the cobwebs and brought to a random table, now commandeered by the Slytherin. She even looked in _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ in hopes of finding someone, even a psychotic murderer, with mention of a child... No luck. It was now an hour until library hours were done and Elizabeth had found nothing, absolutely nothing about any family or wizard or witch having an unknown or illegitimate child. She was frustrated. Frustrated with these stupid books, frustrated with her stupid lying parents, frustrated with Lupin and Dumbledore for not telling her, but even more frustrated with herself for not finding anything because she knew she could. She knew she was just as smart as her annoying false-sister and it made her mad to know she couldn't show it at this moment. But if you thought she couldn't get more angry, she did when the idiot Malfoy waltzed into the library making as much noise Madam Pince could tolerate.

"Where the hell have you been all day? I even asked that stupid Ferran; he was useless, obviously."  
"Not now, Malfoy." Ellie said through clenched teeth  
"You seem ready to foam at the mouth." Draco chuckled, teasing Liz about her obvious mood  
"Okay, so I'm angry; don't make a song and dance about it!"  
"Maybe I should; we could do a duet befo-"  
"Get off my back, Malfoy!" Liz growled in standing, all her books in her arms  
"Fine." he sighed "D'you want a hand with-"  
"No. I'm perfectly capable of doing things on my own, thank you."  
"Calm down, kid. What's got your knickers in a twist?"  
"Books," she said sharply, violently sliding a book back into place "my stupid sister, fucking Dumbledore," a second book "my lying parents..." a pause followed by a violent book slide "myself..."

Elizabeth swiftly turned, dark locks swinging around her lower-back, and strode past the confused blond. She stuffed her quills and parchment into her leather bag, but a hand on hers stopped Ella from shoving her textbook in. She let out a loud irritated sigh and stared at Draco, annoyance clearly drawn upon her fair features.

"Don't go all mushy on me, Malfoy."  
"Then stop being such a grouch and speak."

There was a short pause, broken by the boy.

"I can understand why you're mad at Granger and Dumbledore... but yourself? What did you do; give yourself too many paper cuts?"  
"I wish..."  
"Spit it out, woman!"  
"I'm mad at myself because I can't fucking figure out who I am! I can't find any books in here that have to do with random children. I'm mad because for once in my life I can't use my head and..." Ella stopped, her voice cracking, eyes on the verge of shedding tears  
"And what?" Draco pushed  
"And I'm fucking terrified, that's what! I've never been one to be driven by emotion, and now that I can't use my head..." the girl sighed, a single tear falling from the corner of her eye "I don't know what to do, Draco."

Draco sighed and shoved his hands in his robes' pockets, unsure.

"And I'm supposed to know what to do?" he said, an eyebrow raised  
"Just - forget it."

Liz removed her hand from underneath his and angrily shoved her textbook back into her bag, clasping it closed as she stomped out of the library. But she was stopped halfway down the hall by Draco's voice, which seemed more sincere than it had ever been in the time Ella had known him.

"I do know what to do, by the way."  
"Oh really?" Liz said sarcastically, not bothering to turn around and face the blond  
"Yeah, come on."

A large cold hand gripped hers tightly and lead her forwards. To describe Draco Malfoy's facial expression as he dragged Liz through the halls of the castle would be like describing a blank sheet of paper. He could have been in a coma for all the life his face showed. But, as usual, his eyes said something different. As he walked through the crowd, which was parting as he advanced, eyes scanned and accused the two friends' intertwined hands. The well-known Slytherin's mere glance dismissed them; it called for respect and promised severe consequences for going against him. His gaze had the power to dissect someone bit by bit with the least bit of care, just like Professor Snape's – there wasn't thing one could hide from his eyes. They held no warmth, only cold calculating calm like that of a high functioning computer and his eyes sold him out every time he tried to appear amiable and warm, unless he was looking at Ella. Yet, to his fangirls, but mostly to the raven-haired witch, they were beautiful; like a greying sky pierced by sunlight shining through snow white clouds.

The final destination was the lonely bookshelf in the Slytherin Common Room. There were dozens upon dozens of books, but Draco only took two out; one leather-bound and black, the other a dark grey. Elizabeth recognized them immediately; she had seen them in the library. Two rare books by the names of _Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy_ and _The Pureblood Directory_ were the two most popular books in the Slytherin common room, most of them being pureblood fanatics. The jade-eyed girl frowned, confused as to why Malfoy would give her these. Surely she wasn't part of a famous pureblood family.

"Draco, these books are reserved for pureblood families."  
"What makes you think you're not a pureblood?"

Elizabeth thought about that. She had no true answer to that question. Her magical capabilities were far greater than any witch her age - excluding Hermione - and the sorting did say she was "the perfect Slytherin". Maybe she was, after all, a pureblood. If not she'd be a half-blood and that wasn't so bad; after all, the famous Harry Potter was a half-blood, and he defeated You-Know-Who. So, Elizabeth shrugged and took the books from Draco's hands, setting them down on a table nearby.

"Can't hurt, can it?" she mumbled to herself, as the blond sat himself in front of her

And so, the search began again. Malfoy left a few times to get food since neither of them had had supper that evening and returned to find his favourite classmate with her nose stuck into one of the books. The boy couldn't help but stare; stare at her smooth ebony locks which curled at the ends, stare at her jade green eyes through her thick lashes and stare at her thin lips purse themselves when she was trying to connect two names in different family trees. Then he thought about what everyone was saying: she really did look like his nemesis, Saint-Potter, but they didn't at the same time. Their eyes were almost exactly the same, the girls' being slightly darker. Potter's hair was untidy and wild, whereas Rose's was smooth and wavy. She had freckles and he didn't. Harry wore glasses and Elizabeth didn't. The two students were thin, but Ella was paler and taller. The Gryffindor and Slytherin had enough resemblances to be considered siblings, but enough differences to be considered an odd coincidence.

Malfoy was brought out of his trance by silence; he stopped hearing the scratching of a quill and stopped hearing the ruffling sound of turning pages. Elizabeth was completely silent, her hands still and hovering over her book, ink dripping from her quill.

Every pureblood family, from Abbott to Yaxley, was in those books. Every generation was in there as well. Rose saw the Blacks turn into Lestranges, Slytherins into Gaunts. But she least expected what she had found. How had no one seen this before?

Centuries upon centuries ago, Linfred of Stinchcombe, nicknamed "the potterer", had a son who married into the Peverell family. Hardwin of Stinchcombe, formally known as Hardwin Potter was said son, and he married Iolanthe Peverell, only daughter to Ignotus Peverell's son. After many generations, the Potters married into the Blacks, Charlus Potter being the first to do so with Dorea Black. Once again, after many more generations, Euphemia and Fleamont Potter gave birth to an only son, a son who would die famously with his wife. James Potter was on the list, his alliance with Lily Evans obscured by a large blot of black ink; a Muggle-born in a pureblood directory wasn't "proper". And just there, underneath that inkblot and James Potter... was Harry Potter. Fascinating, right; how Harry Potter is the descendant of a wizard who is suspected to be the inspiration for a character from The Tale of the Three Brothers? It was fascinating to Elizabeth as well, up until she saw a dotted line linking someone to the Boy-Who-Lived. She looked up; a dotted line went from the inkblot to an empty square. Curious. More curious was what was written underneath Lily and that empty space...

"Elizabeth... Potter?"


	43. Siblings

"What?"  
"Elizabeth Potter... I'm- I can't be."  
"Potter? You can't be Potter's sister, I don't hate you."  
"Thanks, I think."

Ella was frozen in place, unable to figure out what to do with herself. Should she smile, or should she cry? Should she run over to Harry and tell him, or keep it to herself? For now, her mind was blank, incapable of forming any sort of thought. As Draco scanned Elizabeth's face for a reaction, the silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. He expected her to crumple, dissolve into tears or begin panicking, but she did none of those things. Instead she got up and placed the books back on the shelf. She had just found out she was the only sister to the Boy-Who-Lived and she was calmly tidying up the desk she was using. When she slumped down into the couch, a peaceful look on her face, Malfoy's eyebrows furrowed. Suddenly, she stood up, collecting all of her findings and shoved them into her bag. The young witch then swung it over her shoulder and began to walk out, but the blonde stopped her.

"What're you doing, Ella?" Malfoy asked  
"I'm going to see Harry, obviously." Liz said in an obvious tone  
"Not now; it's past curfew!"  
"When has that ever stopped me?"

The girl wrenched her hand away from his and stealthily ran out of the Common Room. Draco sighed and hung his head.

"She's impossible."

Elizabeth slunk around corners and through doors, evading teachers and Mrs. Norris. A few times she was almost caught by her head of house, and she could have sworn he had seen her, but he never intervened much to Elizabeth's relief. It took quite some convincing to get into the hospital wing when Madam Pomfrey caught her, but she managed, and walked over to Harry's cot where he was reading under the lamplight. The sound of approaching footsteps made the boy raise his head and smile when he saw his friend. Ellie returned it with a sheepish smile and sat at the edge of the bed.

"Hey, Harry."  
"Hey, Liz. What's wrong?"  
"I um... I found something."  
"What did you find?"

If she had rehearsed this conversation once, she'd rehearsed it a thousand times; it had to end. She had to tell him. But now that she was sitting in front of Harry, her mouth had gone dry and her heart was beating more forcefully than it usually did. Elizabeth had no idea how her friend - brother - would react. Would he reject her, or would he welcome her as the sister she was? Liz had no idea, and she didn't like it; the unknown terrified her.

"Me." the girl said softly "I found, me."  
"You found out who you are?" Harry smiled brightly "That's brilliant!"  
"Yeah... It is."  
"What is it? Do you not like who you're related to?"  
"What? No!" Liz chuckled "I love who I'm related to."  
"Well, come on. Who is it?" Harry edged on  
"You, Harry... You're my half-brother."

* * *

It was the perfect time to go to Hogsmeade, well according to Elizabeth anyway. The street looked like an unfinished painting. So much of the canvas was still perfectly white, as if waiting for the artists hand to return. The afternoon light struggled through the murky clouds, but even in its weakness it was enough to blind. The air was of course cold, but Ella found it soothing. Moving from the heat of the Three Broomsticks to the main street was like sipping on ice-water in the height of summer.

The girl walked aimlessly around the streets, snow falling into the tips of her ebony locks. She was thinking about lots of things. But none of these thoughts were bad or stressful. For the first time since the beginning of the summer Elizabeth was content with her life. She had friends, a brother and great food. What more could a girl ask for? What she didn't ask for was to run into her sister and Ron near the shrieking shack. A heavy silence settled over them, uneasy tension present in the atmosphere.

"Hey, Ron." Ella said with a half-smile  
"Hi, Liz." the ginger said meekly

The raven-haired girl glanced over at Hermione, who crossed her arms and huffed, looking away. Ellie rolled her eyes and began to walk away when she heard voices approaching. She'd recognize them anywhere. Crabbe, Goyle, Pike and Malfoy sauntered into the clearing, their smirks falling when they spotted their fellow Slytherin.

"What're you doing here, Potter?" Goyle asked

It felt weird being called that.

"Taking a stroll; is that illegal?" Elizabeth asked, an eyebrow quirked  
"Of course not." Draco smiled, walking up to her and swinging an arm around her shoulder. He then looked over at Hermione and Ron "Well, well... Look who else is here. You two shopping for your dream home? Seems a bit grand for you, Weasel-Bee. Doesn't your family all sleep in one room?"

Liz rolled her eyes and nudge the blond boy. He cast her a side glance.

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ron replied  
"Now that's not very friendly." Draco said, clicking his tongue "Boys, I think we're going to have to teach Weasel-Bee to respect his superiors."  
"Hope you don't mean yourself." Hermione said with a harsh chuckle  
"Oh, shut up Hermione." Rose spat, glaring  
"Yeah, how dare you speak to me you filthy little mud-"

SPLAT! Malfoy took a snowball to the face. Then another... and another. Crabbe and Goyle started for Ron and Hermione, when their knees gave out and they fell headfirst into the snow. Draco began to back away fearfully, eyeing the mist... Elizabeth simply stood there, confusion etched onto her features. Malfoy's hat is then pulled over his eyes, and he's spun about, given a rough kick to the arse and sent stumbling over the rise and out of sight. Instantly, Crabbe and Goyle join him. Ron, Elizabeth and Hermione stood frozen, exchanged a nervous glance, and dashed off when they all went flying, land on their pants in the snow. As they sat up, they heard... laughter?

"Harry?" Elizabeth called, narrowing her eyes suspiciously

The invisibility cloak dropped and sure enough, it was Harry, grinning from ear to ear. Rose rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Bloody hell, Harry! That was not funny!" Ron shouted  
"Of course it was." the Slytherin chuckled, earning herself a questioning stare from Hermione

Elizabeth then bent down and formed a snowball, throwing it at Harry's face. The two raven-haired siblings stared at each other for a few seconds before bursting into laughter and running after each other. But the fun was short-lived. Hermione had questions, of course. So on their way to the Three Broomsticks, Harry told the three others about the Marauder's map; a map that Fred and George Weasley used up until they passed it onto Harry as an early Christmas gift. The quartet trudged through the swirling snow, Harry donning Hermione's scarf and Ron's hat to disguise himself.

"Those weasels!" Ron gasped "Never told me about the Marauder's map!"  
"But Harry isn't going to keep it. He's going to turn it over to Professor McGonagall, aren't you?" Hermione asked  
"If I were you Harry, I'd keep it." Ella admitted  
"But you've always been the irresponsible half."  
"So he's going to turn it in alongside his invisibility cloak, his pack of exploding snap cards, his-"  
"Shut up, Elizabeth."

The Slytherin smirked. But hers and her brother's attention was soon caught by Cornelius Fudge, the minister of magic, talking to madam Rosmerta and professor McGonagall. The trio was talking about her and Harry, so without warning, the siblings wrapped themselves in the invisibility cloak and followed the pair into the pub. As they thread through the teeming pub, and nearly colliding with some very strange-looking patrons, Harry and Liz turned just as an unshaven wizard's arm whips down right next to them. The two avoid quickly and hurried on, trailing Fudge and McGonagall up a dark stairwell, as Rosmerta lead them into a small back room. As the door started to close, the siblings rushed forward, barely making it inside. The two settled themselves in the corner of the room, listening intently.

"Come on, then. Let's hear it." Rosmerta said to the professor  
"Years ago, when Harry and Elizabeth Potter's parents were marked for death, they went into hiding." the woman began "Few knew where they were. One who did was black. And he told-"  
"You-Know-Who." Rosmerta interrupted "I've heard this rot. It was all over The Daily Prophet back in the day. And I'll say now what I said then: Of all the boys I ran out of here, Black's the last who would've gone over to the dark side. That's all the Ministry had. Hearsay."  
"Ha!" the minister shouted "Tell that to Peter Pettigrew!"  
"Peter Pettigrew?"  
"Little lump of a boy? Always tagging after Black and-"  
"I remember him. What's he got to do with it?"  
"After the Potters were killed, Pettigrew went looking for Black." McGonagall continued "And, unfortunately... found him."  
"Black was vicious. He didn't kill Pettigrew. He destroyed him." Fudge paused for dramatic effect "A finger. That's all that was left. A finger - there's your hearsay."  
"Sirius Black may not have put his hands to the Potters, but he's the reason they're dead. And now he wants to finish what he started."

A moment of silence fell upon them.

"Harry and Elizabeth." Rosmerta realized

McGonagall nodded, looking pained.

"But that's not the worst of it." Cornelius Fudge added  
"What could be worse?"  
"This: Sirius Black was and remains today..." the professor paused "Harry Potter's godfather."


	44. Expecto Patronum

The pub doors flew open and onto the Main Street, where Ron and Hermione waited, rubbing their hands against the chill. As they looked down, two sets of footprints began to appear in the snow. The two Gryffindors follow the footprints, passing by many posters of Sirius Black screaming at passerby's. At the end of a rocky outcrop, the footprints end and sobs were heard. Ron took Hermione's arm, discouraging her from going further, but this was Hermione after all. So she went up anyway, filling the footprints with her own, then knelt in front of a stone and very gently drew back the cloak. The taller sibling had her arms around Harry's shoulders, his eyes focused on nothing and stinging with tears. Hermione saw Elizabeth vulnerable for the first time. Anyone passing by would think she was holding onto her brother to comfort him, but the Gryffindor witch knew better; she had lived with her for thirteen years. Ellie would never admit her fear. She could have been at a level that would induce paralysis in any Gryffindor and yet she'd carry on as if nothing was wrong. Not a witch or wizard in a thousand could spot her tension. Hermione admired that about Elizabeth although she'd never admit it. She was the graceful swan, swimming over the Black Lake, even if the Giant Squid was coming her way with its mouth open. Still she smiled and never let anything get to her. If it did, it came out in the form of anger. "Never let the enemy know they have you on the run, and sometimes run when it isn't necessary, keep them guessing Mione." That's what she always said, and Hermione lived by those words. But now, Elizabeth wasn't using her own advice. Her brain had shut down. She was clammy and there was the glisten of a cold sweat on her forehead. Her eyes were as wide as if someone was coming to deliver the fatal blow. Yet what she saw, only Harry could see. Trapped in their own psychosis, a living nightmare for two, tailor made by the one who killed their parents.

"He was their friend. And he betrayed them... He was their friend." Harry choked out, his eyes suddenly hardening "I hope he finds me. But when he does, I'm going to be ready. When he does, I'm going to kill him."

"And I'll be there with you..." Elizabeth whispered "I promise."

* * *

Christmas shopping wasn't easy. Everyone, third year and up, would be in Hogsmeade to buy gifts for their parents, friends and siblings. The blanketed streets would be bustling with shouting, laughing and running witches and wizards trying to get the last of Honeydukes' famous chocolate. She mentally congratulated herself for putting an extension charm on one of her bags so she could put everything she bought inside. Fred and George Weasley would receive a box full of items from Zonko's joke shop, Ron always wanted sweets, so that's what he'd get and, even though they weren't talking, Ella bought Hermione a book she didn't have - which wasn't easy. Harry was going to receive new Quidditch boots because they've had holes in them for the longest time, and Draco wouldn't shut up about this picture frame he wanted so he could put his and Liz's face in it. She didn't know why he liked her so much, after all most of friends were Gryffindors. The last person she wanted to shop for was Amir, but she had no idea what to get him. But then she remembered how many necklaces that boy owned; he'd wear a different one almost every day. Even Elizabeth didn't own that many and she'd wear three at a time once in a while. Unfortunately, the closest thing to a jewelry store was Galdrags Wizardwear and the only thing Liz knew about that store, was that they sold the weirdest socks known to wizardkind; but it was worth a shot. Thankfully she went, because the first thing that caught her eye was the thing she wanted.

* * *

Allured by the scent of fresh pine coming from the Common Room, Ella exited her dorm wrapped in her giant blanket. Not many people were there, since she was up late and missed a good part of Christmas morning breakfast, but Amir was there, sitting on the couch as he examined the gifts under the enormous Christmas tree covered in glistening ornaments and glowing fairy lights draped around it. Amir and Elizabeth spent the rest of the morning opening their gifts and eating more pumpkin pie than anyone should. The Egyptian got his friend two rare potions books - the Book of Potions and Potion Oposcule - while the latter got him an Ankh necklace to remind him of home. They were about to go run around in the snow when Amir noticed something glittering underneath the tree.

"Rose, it is addressed to you."

"Me? Who's it from?"

"It does not say."

In his hand, Amir held out a small dark green box tied close with a silk black ribbon. It took a few seconds for the new information to sink it, even though it was right before Ella's eyes. It couldn't be from Draco, because he told her that he'd give his gift to her after the feast tonight. Who could it be from? This was exactly like in her first year when Harry got his invisibility cloak. Liz took the gift and sat on the couch, eyeing it carefully before pulling off the ribbon, which she used to tie her hair. Inside the small box, in neat cursive - that she somehow found familiar -, was a small note. It read:

 ** _I gave this to your mother a long time ago. You deserve to have it._**

The girl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Someone other than Lupin knew about her mother? Maybe it was the empty square next to her name in the Pureblood Directory. The anticipation was a nervous kind of energy. It tingled through her like electrical sparks on the way to the ground, gathering in her toes and fingertips. Before she knew it she had opened the small black jewelry box and gasped, eyes open wide and eyebrows arched to the sky. It was a beautiful layered silver necklace, featuring a doe and a rose. She held it up to the fairy lights and examined it, finding ironic that it featured a rose, like her middle name. Ella unclasped it and put it around her neck, twirling it in her fingers; it somehow felt right.

"You are going to wear it?" Amir asked, reading the note "You do not even know who it is from."

"But it was my mother's; I have to wear it." Elizabeth smiled softly

"How can you trust the word of a stranger?"

"It feels right."

* * *

As usual, the Great Hall was decorated to the extreme for the holidays.; every inch of the castle glittered and glowed. Amir and Ellie spent the day drinking hot chocolate and throwing snowballs at each other. When it was time for the Christmas feast, they came back inside their noses pink from the cold. The girl sat next to Draco and the Egyptian sat on her other side, wanting to avoid Malfoy's face. Dumbledore said a few words to the few students that remained at school and the food appeared on the table, seemingly more delicious looking than usual. Thankfully, the two boys weren't at each others throats, so Elizabeth could enjoy her meal and laugh along with a few other Slytherins. But once in a while she'd feel as if she was being watched. Stare, that's all she did. And he stared back. Their staring contests were never awkward, however and neither of them actually ever thought of anything as they did. Except for today. It was the way Snape was staring at her that made her think. He was looking at her with the same blank expression, but his eyes regarded her with the same forlorn expression she saw on Lupin a few weeks back. Ella sent him a small smile, not expecting it to be returned in the same manner.

* * *

It was now spring. Butterflies fluttered over the great green lawn. The Giant Squid broke through the last glaze of ice on the Black Lake. The Whomping Willow shook the water from its branches and the dying sun streamed through high windows, painting Elizabeth's and Harry's faces a fierce amber-red as they stood opposite to professor Lupin. Ancient charts draped the walls while gleaming spheres of spun glass orbited one another silently. Lupin paced before a large trunk, Harry standing nervously in front of him and Elizabeth sitting on a chair nearby.

"You're sure about this, you two? This is very advanced magic. Well beyond Ordinary Wizarding Level." Lupin asked, causing Liz's eyebrows to furrow

"If Black can fight the Dementors, I need to know how too." Harry replied

"Wait, Harry, you said I was here for moral support." Ellie interjected "What exactly are we doing?"

"I'm going to teach you is called the Patronus Charm. Ever hear of it?"

Harry shook his head. Elizabeth nodded, anticipation present on her fair face.

"A Patronus is a kind of positive force. For the wizard who can conjure one, the Patronus works something like a shield. The Dementor feeds on it instead of him." Lupin informed the children

"But in order for it to work, you have to think of a memory, Harry." Liz added "But not just any. This memory needs to be a very happy one. And powerful."

Harry thought a bit, then nodded. Elizabeth had to think as well. What memory was she going to choose? Learning she was a witch?Her first Quidditch game? No... She knew.

"Got something?" the professor asked. The kids nodded "Good. Let it fill you up. Lose yourself in it. Then speak the incantation:

Expecto Patronum. Without your wand..."

"Expecto Patronum." the siblings chorused

"Right then. Shall we?"

The raven-haired students both nodded and raised their wands. Lupin, watching closely, reached over to the trunk and gripped the lid. Telling the children to concentrate on their memory as hard as they could. As Lupin flung the lid open, the witch and wizard raised their wands at the ready. In the sun's blood-light, the Dementor creeping out of the trunk looked particularly horrific. Harry tried to speak, mumbling out a few words, but the Slytherin was frozen in place, unable to form the two words she needed, even less the happy memory she was thinking about. The torches on the wall flickered as a chill breeze filled the chamber. A man and a woman's screams echoed instantly in the girl's ears, reminding her of the Dementor attack on the train at the start of term. Her eyes began to roll up and before she knew it, her world went black. She woke up a few minutes later when Lupin fished a chocolate frog from his pocket and handed it to her. he insisted she eat it, and when she did she felt much better.

"Liz, are you all right?" Harry panicked. The girl nodded, standing up "That was one nasty Dementor."

"Boggart, Harry. The real thing would be much, much worse." Lupin said, glancing worriedly at Elizabeth "Just

out of interest, what were you thinking of? What memory did you two choose?"

"I couldn't think straight..." Ella stuttered "I didn't even get the chance to try."

The professor nodded then looked over at Harry.

"The first time I rode a broom." the boy replied

"That's not good enough, Harry. Not nearly."

"There's another. It's not happy exactly. I mean, it is. It's the happiest I've ever felt. But it's... complicated."

"Is it strong?"

Harry looked up into Lupin's eyes, emotional, and confirmed it was. The professor looked over at Elizabeth and place his hands on her shoulders in a comforting manner.

"Are you ready to try again?" he asked her

The girl simply took a deep breath and pointed her wand back at the trunk, a stern and determined look on her face. Liz's green eyes were fixed upon the box, her breathing steadied almost instantly. Lupin studied her cold expression and nodded, walking back over to the trunk.

"Think, you two, think-"

"Just do it!" Elizabeth snapped

Lupin blinked at Elizabeth's fierceness and opened the packing case. Instantly, the Dementor appeared again. A chill filled the air, making both students clench their jaws. They pointed their wands at it, trembling. Harry began shouting the incantation in a frantic manner, whereas Elizabeth simply took a deep breath and tried to calm down and think. Suddenly, both of their wands emit a huge silver shadow between them in the Dementor, which faltered.

"Riddikulus!" Lupin shouted, making the Dementor vanish

The Slytherin's and Gryffindor's arms drop and their bodies slack. The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher eyed his two students with a kind of awe. People his age should not be able to produce any form of Patronus.

"Well done." he said, his voice barely a whisper

"I think I've had enough. For today." Harry admitted

Lupin and Elizabeth both nodded and watched Harry move to the door.

"So you know, Harry: You'd have given your father a run for his money. And, believe me, that's saying something." the professor smiled

"I was thinking of him... And our mum." the boy said, gazing over at his sister "Seeing their faces. They're just talking to me. Just... talking. That was the memory I chose. I don't even know if it's real... But it's the best I have."

Harry gripped the door and pushed past, leaving Lupin and Ellie in the chamber together. The girl took a deep breath and turned back towards the trunk, pointing her dark wand at it.

"I want to try it again." she said simply, her face still determined looking

"Are you sure? I think you did quite brilliantly today." Lupin replied

"I'm positive."

Lupin sighed and nodded, walking over to the trunk once more. He looked at her, a mix of fear and worry in his eyes, hoping she'd change her mind, but he knew she wouldn't. Both her parents were determined people, and they'd obviously passed it on to her. Elizabeth nodded stiffly, signaling she was ready. The Dementor slid out of the chest and slowly glided forth. The Slytherin witch pointed her wand like a sword, and thought long and hard about her happy memory, shouting Expecto Patronum. Suddenly, when the creature seemed to be closer than ever, a large wisp of silver came out of her wand and began swirling. Both Lupin and Elizabeth were momentarily confused; why was the charm spinning around the room. The Dementor began to back away and the two Hogwarts residents' eyes both went wide like saucers, but Elizabeth soon snapped out of it and concentrated harder, making the silver wisp take form of...


	45. This Means War

The homework was easy; it was only one simple concept that confused Hermione, so after about an hour the girls were done with it. Thankfully, the two ex-sisters were talking again. They'd sorted out a few things and left on better terms. Liz wasn't one hundred percent convinced, however. Not that she didn't believe Hermione's words or thought she wasn't sincere, because she did. She was worried about whether she believed the words that came out of her own mouth. Of course the Slytherin wanted to be friends with the Gryffindor, but did she really want the same relationship they shared before? Could they even be that close again? Ella had no idea.

After a while, Hermione went up to her dorm, hoping to get at least seven and a quarter hours of sleep. After questioning the precise number, Liz let her go because last time she saw Hermione with a lack of sleep, she got a book in the face. Elizabeth however, took her time going back to her dorm. She stayed in the Gryffindor common room staring at the fire for a few minutes before she heard footsteps coming from one of the spiral staircases. Getting up in a haste, she tripped on the carpet and fell not-so-gracefully onto the floor, sending a few books and pieces of parchment flying sky-high. When she saw Harry come around, a panicked look on his face, Liz burst into a fit of laughter. Her brother helped her up and rolled his eyes, an exasperated smile on his face.

"Liz? What're you still doing here?"

"Trashing the place, apparently." the girl chuckled

"I can see that."

"I was talking to Hermione; she went up a few minutes ago."

"So you two are talking again?" Harry asked "For good?"

"Well, until shit hits the fan again." Liz shrugged, looking down. She noticed a parchment in her brother's hand "What's the Marauder's Map for?"

Harry's eyes slightly widened, as if he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to. His gaze immediately shifted towards the Map, and his widened eyes squinted, eyebrows furrowing. He took the Map out of its "hiding place" and opened it on the table in front of Elizabeth.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to spy a little." the boy began "And found nothing interesting really; Snape-"

"Professor Snape." Liz corrected, an eyebrow raised

"Right. Well, he's doing his rounds and so is Professor Lupin."

"True. Nothing interesting... So why is your face all serious?"

"My face is all serious because I saw a name I didn't recognize." Harry said and pointed to a name moving along the parchment "'Peter Pettigrew'."

"I've heard that name before... But I don't remember where." Elizabeth noted, pensive "Ugh, why is my brain failing me now?"

"Come on, Liz. Let's check it out." the Gryffindor said, rising from his seat

"What? No! Harry, Professors Snape and Lupin are doing their rounds near 'Pettigrew'; we might get caught." the Slytherin witch noted

"Come on, quit being such a Slytherin."

Elizabeth sighed and followed her brother out of the common room, muttering to herself.

"You're muttering."

"I don't mutter."

Harry rolled his eyes and said Lumos, lighting his wand. The hallways of the castle suddenly came alive with light. The snoring paintings on the walls were quite loud in the silence of the night. The siblings both looked back towards the Maurauder's Map; Harry and Elizabeth's names were approaching 'Peter Pettigrew'. The two squinted toward the end of the corridor, then down at the map, then back up. 'Pettigrew' was moving quickly down the adjoining corridor. He was twenty yards away, then ten, then only seconds away. Wand trembling in his hand, Harry glanced from the map to the dark corridor ahead, then to his sister who was slowly walking behind him, no emotion present in her face. Then as the footsteps on the Map were about to collide with each other, Elizabeth and her brother slowly looked up... turned the corner...and were met with... themselves reflected in a mirror? Ella gasped, startled, breaking the impassive look on her face. Both of them blinked a few times then glanced back at the Marauder's Map, eyebrows furrowing. 'Pettigrew' had moved past him. Confused, the siblings wheeled and Harry cast his wand along the walls.

"Watch it there, boy!"

Harry and Liz jumped at the voice, but it was only an old man in a painting, scowling in the glare of Harry's wand light. On the Map, 'Pettigrew' continued to move away. Harry made a move to follow, but was stopped when his sister heard footsteps. She then frantically pointed at a line of footsteps rapidly making its way towards them: Severus Snape. The boy pointed his wand at the Marauder's Map, muttered Mischief Managed, shoved it into his pocket and extinguished his wand. Harry then spun around, pulling Elizabeth behind him protectively as he was met face to face with the harsh glare of Snape's wand light.

"Potters... What are you two doing wandering the corridors at night?" the professor asked

"I was sleepwalking." Harry replied

"And I was hungry, so I was on my way to the kitchens when I found him." Elizabeth replied quickly

She was a good liar, but it didn't mean she liked lying to her superiors, notably Snape.

"Miss Potter, with me. Now."

Elizabeth obeyed immediately and stood beside her head of house. Why the hell did I listen to Harry? she thought. Snape glanced at her over her shoulder, then back at Harry.

"How extraordinarily like your father, Potter." Snape said "He too was exceedingly arrogant. Strutting about the castle-"

"My dad didn't strut." Harry said sharply

Liz winced, wishing he hadn't spoken. Professor Snape wasn't one to be nice to anyone, much less to his least favourite student. The girl sent Harry a look that told her what she was thinking: what the hell?

"Nor do I, much less my sister. Now, if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it if you lowered your wand."

Snape eyed Harry coldly, and cast a fleeting glance at his Slytherin student. He's definitely containing himself, Liz thought. The man then slowly lowered his wand and eyed Harry's enlarged pockets.

"Turn out your pockets." the professor demanded

The Gryffindor didn't move, eyes still fixed upon his superior. Elizabeth looked between the Head of Slytherin and her brother, hoping that her brother would listen.

"Turn out your pockets." Snape insisted

Finally, Harry obliged, much to Elizabeth's relief. He's probably only doing it for my sake, she thought, mentally thanking her brother. The raven-haired boy pulled the large piece of parchment out of his sweater's pocket and handed it to Snape, whose eyes glittered darkly.

"And this... what might it be?" he drawled

"Just a spare bit of parchment." Harry lied

"Really..." Snape pointed his wand at the Map "Reveal your secrets..."

Much to Harry and Elizabeth's horror, black ink began to appear in the form of words upon the parchment. Snape studied the Gryffindor, a malicious smirk on his lips. Then, without looking at her, handed the parchment to his Slytherin student.

"Read it."

"'Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs offer their compliments to Professor Snape and-'" Elizabeth paused, reading ahead

"Go on." Snape pressed

"I-I can't read that, sir." Liz admitted, shaking her head

"I'll read it." Harry said, grabbing the parchment "'Messrs. Moony, Wormatil, Padfoot and Prongs offer their compliments to Professor Snape and request that he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business.'"

"Why you insolent-"

"Professor...?"

Snape, Elizabeth and Harry all turned at the new voice. Three pairs of eyes landed upon Professor Lupin, standing in the shadows. As usual, he looked pale and sickly standing in his shabby robes; it was normal for him since he was a Werewolf. Nevertheless, he had an air of confidence about him that Ella seemed to like.

"Well, well, Lupin. Out for a little stroll... in the moonlight, are we?" Snape asked

"Harry, Elizabeth? Are you all right?" Lupin questioned, ignoring his fellow professor

"That remains to be seen. I've just now confiscated a rather curious artifact from Mr. Potter. Take a look, Lupin. This is supposed to be your area of expertise."

Lupin took the parchment from professor Snape, which now displayed a rather unflattering drawing of him with a multitude of potion bottles, and began to examine it closely.

"Clearly, it's filled with dark magic." the dark professor said

"I seriously doubt that, Severus." Lupin admitted with a small smile "It looks to me as if it merely insults anyone who tries to read it. I suspect it's a Zonko product. Nevertheless, I shall pursue any hidden qualities it may possess. As you say, it's my area of expertise." he sent a pointed look toward Elizabeth, then turned to her brother "Come, Harry."

As the two left, Elizabeth stood next stiffly next to her professor, waiting for him to yell at her. She took a chance and sent him a side glance; once again, the only emotion he ever showed was anger. The girl quickly turned back to gaze at the darkened corridor once her Head of House turned swiftly towards her. Ella could feel her professors eyes burning into the side of her head. Everyone in the school, including the Slytherin witch, knew the outcome of a stare of such intensity. It didn't even matter that Elizabeth was Snape's favourite student, he would still be furious. The short breath he had just taken made Liz stand straighter; he was about to speak.

"I highly doubt that you were out seeking food, miss Potter." he said, waiting for his student to speak "I do not wish to raise my voice."

Rose turned slowly to face her professor. She had all the emotion of wet concrete, her facial muscles just as loose. There was no anger, no fear or anxiety, even though those were all things she felt. The girl was angry at herself for listening to her brother. She was afraid and nervous about the man towering before her and what he would do. Nevertheless, she had to own up to what she'd done... Kind of.

"I was in the Gryffindor Common Room talking with Hermione. Right after she went to bed, Harry came down."

"And what was he doing?"

"Walking. He just walked past me, so I decided to follow him." Liz lied, preserving Harry's story "I snapped him out of it a few minutes before we ran into you."

"Is that the story you're staying with, miss Potter?" Snape asked, raising a quizzical eyebrow

"Yes, sir."

The professor stared at Ella for a moment, before nodding. He probably didn't believe her, but Liz didn't care as long as she didn't get into too much trouble.

"Very well. I'll escort you back to the Common Room. Follow me."

Right after Snape wheeled and began to walk away, there was a moment where the Slytherin witch's face washed blank with confusion, like her brain cogs couldn't turn fast enough to take in the information from her wide eyes. Every muscle of her body just froze before a grin crept onto her face. She hadn't been yelled at? No scolding, no detention or furious gazes? Of course, she'd never hear the end of it from... well, every other student, especially Malfoy. Elizabeth's best guess was that she'd have to deal with his crabby mood for at least a week, and the same thing went for the entire lot of Gryffindors.

The password said and the whole-in-the-wall opened, the two Slytherins walked in, Liz faster than Snape. She was hoping to get away fast so he didn't have any time to change his mind and indeed give her detention or see it fit to scold her. Unfortunately, the potions master wasn't done yet.

"Not so fast, Potter." he spat the name like venom

Rose paused and clamped her eyelids shut, scrunched up her face and cursed under her breath. Damn, I'm in trouble, she thought.

"Don't think for one second that I'm not indifferent to what is it you did." Snape said slowly "You will have detention with me young lady. Tomorrow, six pm sharp. You can eat supper after. Good night, miss Potter."

"Good night, sir."

Bugger.

* * *

"Divination is a joke!"

Malfoy was at it again, boasting about how easy all of his classes were. Crabbe and Goyle were listening intently to all the names of the tutors and specialized books he was listing. Elizabeth was only half listening, more interested in her food and Amir's stories rather than the places Lucius Malfoy had been to purchase said books. Her back was turned to the blonde, her head resting upon her hand and her jade eyes fixed upon her Egyptian friend. Her eyes grew in fascination as the boy kept telling tales of his people and his country's creation1. Of course, Malfoy being Malfoy, when he wanted someone's attention, he had that person's attention. Unfortunately for him, Ella - his Ella - wasn't one of his fangirls. Sure they were friends, and she'd give him the attention he craved once in a while, but she'd never go along with something he wanted if she didn't feel the same about it. So, if Amir was getting attention from Liz (and a few other people), he'd have to take it... But how?

"Hey, Ella?" Draco said

"Just one second, Amir's almost done his story." the girl replied, holding up a finger behind her

The blond crossed his arms and pouted like a child, waiting.

"So... When Isis cries, the Nile will rise. And that, my dear friends, is a very important thing." Amir said dramatically, ending his story

"Woah..." about a dozen Slytherins chorused, eyes wide

"Yeah, fascinating." Malfoy said bitterly "Ella?"

"What is so important, Draco!?" the girl asked, exasperated

"I think your little rich boy would like some attention." Amir chuckled, earning him a punch on the shoulder

"Be nice, Ramses." Elizabeth sighed

"Yeah, be nice, Ferran."

"Don't push it, Draco. So, what is- oh, shit! I've got class!"

Elizabeth got up in haste, her robes getting all tangled in her limbs. She grabbed a scone from the center of the table, knocking over the tower of pancakes Goyle made and shoved it into her mouth. The witch grabbed her book bag, swung it over her shoulder and began to walk out. The blond followed.

"Hey, Ella! Wait up!"

"I can't, I'm going to be late to class! Can't you just tell me now?" the witch inquired

"Well, I suppose I could..." Draco admitted, a smirk itching its way onto his face

"Then spit it out, kid!" she demanded, spinning around to face him "Now would be a good time."

"Don't rush me."

"Oh, excuse me your highness." Ella said with a mock curtsy "But if you're not going to say anything I'll just go."

What was going through that boy's mind? She had a class to go to! And if he wasn't going to say what he wanted to say, Elizabeth wasn't going to be late to her class for no good reason. With a roll of her jade eyes she turned on her heels and walked off, hair fluttering mid-back and robes billowing around her feet.

"Ella? Oh, Ella come on!" Draco complained "That is not fair!"

He threw his hands up in frustration and let them fall on either side of himself. Whatever was going through his mind, it was bothering him. Being the persistent prat he was, he wasn't about to give up, especially when he saw Amir catching up to her a goofy smile on his face. The Egyptian, when he had reached Rose, swung his arm around her shoulders. That was bad enough. He sent her a tender smile. That was worse. But when she returned it, Draco Malfoy's sneer made an appearance. As if on cue, Amir looked back and, seeing the blond's face, winked in his direction, a smile on his face.

This meant war.


	46. An Uncannily Kind Woman

Spring had sprung. Well, it was a greyer day than usual. Maybe it was because Elizabeth had learned from Hermione that Buckbeak was going to be executed today. Not that she cared much; it was just a Hippogriff after all, and there were plenty more where that particular one came from. However, Elizabeth was appalled by the fact that it was Lucius Malfoy who had ordered the execution because of what it did to his son. Sure it had injured Draco, but Mr. Malfoy had gone too far in her book. And she couldn't (and didn't want to) blame it all on her stupid blond friend, even though she was sure he wasn't against the idea.

Amir and Elizabeth had just finished Ancient Runes. Well... they got kicked out again, this time for bewitching the runic translator books to snap shut every time someone tried to turn a page. Fortunately, their detention wasn't tonight, so Liz could still make it to Snape's requested detention for sneaking out at night. The Egyptian applauded her bravery, to which she sent a mock bow, of course. At the moment, the two were walking across the grounds, happily enjoying their "free period". Unfortunately, that was short lived when she saw Harry, Hermione and Ron walking towards Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Hey, Amir... Stay here. I'll be right back."

The bronze skinned boy nodded, seating himself against a rock. Rose never called him Amir unless it was serious, and it definitely was since the two trios of Hogwarts were about to butt heads once again. So Elizabeth walked down the steep path and met with the trio she liked best. The only part of the other trio she liked was Draco, and even then...

"I can't believe they're going to kill Buckbeak! It's too horrible." Hermione complained

"It just got worse." Harry said looking over at Malfoy

"Would you be talking about me?" Liz smirked

"No. Your boyfriend, Malfoy." Ron said bitterly

"He is not my boyfriend, Ronald."

"But you wish he was."

"Shut it before I hex you, Weasley."

"Both of you, be mature." Hermione demanded stomping towards the blonde Slytherin

Malfoy, along with Crabbe and Goyle, lurked within a grouping of monolithic menhirs1. A pair of binoculars in hand, the three were spying on Hagrid, who stood in his pumpkin patch, tossing dead ferrets to Buckbeak.

"Did you see the big, fat blubbering oaf? Oh, this is going to be rich." Malfoy chuckled "Did I tell you, Father said I can keep the head-" he paused, looking up "Ah. Come to see the show? Oh, hey, Ella."

"You foul, loathesome, evil little cockroach!" Hermione yells

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." Liz noted

Malfoy stumbled back against one of the stones, cross-eyed with fear as Hermione jabbed the tip of her wand under his nose.

"Hermione, no!" Ron and Elizabeth chorused, making the Gryffindor witch look back

"He's not worth it." the ginger continued

Hermione nodded and turned back towards Harry, Ron and Ellie. Then - SMACK! - quick as lightning, she landed a looping right to Malfoy's jaw, putting him flat on his back. Stunned, the Slytherin witch ran over to him and crouched down to help him up.

"What is your problem, Hermione!?" she roared, eyes filled with a fury none of them had ever seen before

"You heard him, Liz! You heard what he said about Buckbeak!" Hermione shouted, not showing she was taken aback by the other girl's reaction

"Who gives a shit about what he said about Buckbeak? Sure it's sad that his twat of a father ordered it-"

"Hey!" Malfoy interrupted, but stopped when Hermione moved forward again

"But it's just a Hippogriff, Hermione, there are plenty more. What makes this one so special?!"

For once in her life, Hermione was at a loss for words. How dare Elizabeth say that about the creature? How dare she defend swine like Malfoy? Ron was expecting it, always half-believing the girl was evil, but Harry couldn't believe his ears. Ella had always been nice to him, been there for him, treated him like a regular person. He refused to believe she actually meant a word of what she said, even though the look she had in her eyes told him she did.

Elizabeth looked over to Draco and checked his face. Seeing a smidge of blood, she told him to go to the hospital wing and get it checked, and that she'd be there momentarily. The boy wasted no time and jumped to his feet and ran, Crabbe and Goyle huffing and puffing behind.

"It's sad that Buckbeak is going to die, really, but it isn't the end of the damn world." Rose said, her anger still apparent "You don't go around punching people no matter how much you hate them, Hermione. I expected more from you."

Ella began to walk away, but was stopped by her ex-sister finally finding her words.

"You're just as bad as him you know. That stupid prat, Malfoy." she said sternly "Cruel, harsh, uncaring... A real monster."

"I don't need a reminder of that, Hermione!" Rose shouted, tears welling in the corners of her eyes "I'm a nameless survivor; at least Harry's just a survivor... But I've got no name! I'm only using Potter because it's better than Granger! I know I'm a monster! I mean, I speak Parseltongue, I'm in Slytherin, I'm what's the worst in this world according to you!"

"Liz-"

"No, Harry. She's right... I was just too much of a fucking Slytherin to own up to it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go check on my friend which you put in the hospital wing!"

"Lizzie-"

"Shut up, Hermione. Now get out of my way." Liz said, standing stiffly in front of Hermione. She didn't budge "I said move, you twit!"

"He's not worth it, Liz!" Hermione called as Ella shoved past her

"He may not be worth it to you, 'miss perfect', but he is to me! And you know better than to fuck around with my friends."

"He'll betray you the first chance he gets!" Ron added, speaking up for the first time in a while

"Well that's not your problem now is it, Weasley?" Rose spat "Good... Day."

Anger as hot as lava boiled deep inside Elizabeth's system as she began to climb the path she came down from. There wasn't really a reason as to why she was this angry, except for the fact that Hermione had punched Draco in the face. All she knew is that it churned within, hungry for destruction, and she knew it was too much for her to handle. The pressure of this raging sea of anger would force her to say more things she didn't mean, or express thoughts she'd suppressed for weeks.

She knew she had to get out everyone's way before she erupted in her furious state, which is why she ignored and walked past Amir who was still sitting on his rock, aimlessly playing with his thumbs. Ella ignored the boy, thoughts about knowing that this feeling would pass, but that until then, she could really hurt someone, whether it be physically or psychologically. The girl even abandoned all thought of going to see Malfoy, and hoped he'd understand her point of view when she'd explain to him why she hadn't come. However, she couldn't ignore the time or make it slow down for her benefit, therefore the Slytherin would just have to go to Snape's detention in a furious state.

Stomping down the stone stairs, she allowed the darkness and cool air to swallow her, hoping it would bring her some comfort, but to no avail. Her fury hadn't lessened, and the people around her had noticed, beginning to avoid her when she past them. It still hadn't dwindled by the time she slammed the potion class doors open and plopped into a chair in a most ungraceful manner. Professor Snape, who was calmly grading papers at the time, merely stared at her, his usual impassive look traced upon his face.

"I do hope this attitude will not persist during your detention, miss Potter." he drawled still examining the girl

"I'd appreciate if you didn't call me that, Sir." she replied through clenched teeth

"And why is that?"

"Because I'm not a Potter. As far as I'm concerned, I'm only related to Lily Evans directly."

"Should I call you miss Evans, then? I would greatly appreciate it if you made up your mind about this. I have no time for figuring out who you are."

"Yeah, well you're not the only one so quit complaining."

Snape merely raised an eyebrow at her statement. Elizabeth however was appalled by her behaviour; she never disrespected her Head of House. Eyes wide, she growled in irritation and let her forehead fall onto the desk in front of her, hands balled into fists. She raised her head and straightened.

"I'm sorry, Professor." Liz apologized "I'm angry, tired and hungry, and would really appreciate it if you'd give me something to do before I flip a table."

"I suggest you calm down first." Snape said calmly, looking back at his parchment

"But I can't calm down!" the girl shouted, rising from her seat as she planted her fists on the desk

Severus Snape couldn't have raised his head any slower than he had just done it. He simply stared at her, quill held limply in his hand. Elizabeth was quite a sight. Her ivory-like skin had a pink tinge to it, showing her irritation. Her smooth locks of ebony hair stuck out in places and fell over her shoulders in a chaotic fashion. The girl's once jade green eyes now looked enraged and darker in colour, and her heavy breathing could probably be heard throughout the underground corridors of the Dungeons. Any other professor would let her leave and calm down in her dorm, but Snape wasn't having any of it, as usual.

"I suggest you do before I give you another detention." he added

"Why can't I catch a break today!?" Rose sighed loudly, hanging her head "It's like the damn universe is against me or something."

"I don't believe the universe is out to get you, miss Evans. You merely had a bad day. Now, if you-"

"I didn't say you could call me miss Evans, yet you did... You knew my mother didn't you?"

"That is not the point. Now, if you would be so kind as to alphabetize the potion ingredients in my personal stores."

"Fine. Can't be that hard." Liz said sharply

Professor Snape rose and lead his student to his private stores. It was a small room, big enough to fit only a large armchair. However, there was no chair, only three walls covered with bottles filled with obscure ingredients ranging from Acromantula venom to Wiggentree bark. Being a potion fanatic, this was paradise; apart from the lack of order in the bottles since students never really cared about things being in their place. It would take a while, and Elizabeth wasn't sure she'd be done in time to eat supper, but she was ready. Ignoring her growling stomach, the pounding in her head and her anger issues, Liz rolled up her sleeves and began sorting.

Bat blood went between Baneberry and bat spleen. Gillywood went after Griffin claw, and snake fangs were placed before Snakeweed. After three hours of staring at labels in the same black ink cursive, Ella was starting to see things a little fuzzy. It was now 9:14PM and she'd finally finished. She expected professor Snape to be long gone, off to do his rounds or gone to sleep, but there he was, sitting as his desk and staring at parchment. The girl quietly came up to one of the desks and sat down, barely making any noise, but enough to grab Snape's attention.

"I see your anger has dissipated." he noted

"Yeah, well staring at labels for three hours will do that to you, Professor." Rose said tiredly, a small smirk on her face

"You finished that faster than I thought."

"Three hours is not fast."

"Yes, well it takes most Ravenclaws an hour more. You may go now."

"Right, okay..." Elizabeth said and stood, then paused "Professor?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"For what exactly?" Snape asked

"Being a hard-ass, I guess. I needed someone to snap me back to reality." the witch chuckled, lazily swinging her bag over her shoulder

"Then I suppose you are welcome."

"Yeah... Good night Professor."

"Good night, miss Evans." the Head of Slytherin said as Liz began walking away "Oh, miss Evans?"

"Yes, Sir?" she replied, rubbing her eyes

"I did know your mother. She was an uncannily kind woman... Kindest I ever knew, even to those who didn't deserve it."

* * *

1: It's a damn big rock


	47. Godfather

She knew it was stupid to go back there, especially knowing Hermione was there and it was almost past curfew, but there was something screaming in the back of her mind. It was telling her that she had to go back, for whatever reason. So, instead of heading to her dorm room, Elizabeth stalked the Dungeon halls quietly and headed towards the stairs. Unfortunately, people were still coming down from dinner or from a study session. Amir wasn't amongst these Slytherin witches and wizards, but Draco Malfoy sure was. She tried to evade the blond boy, but to no avail, she'd been seen. He swiftly grabbed Ella's arm and pinned her against the wall, sharp grey eyes burning into angry green ones.

"Where were you!?" he whispered loudly

"In detention with professor Snape, Draco." Liz whispered back

She tried to leave again, but the blond grabbed her arm again and pinned her back to the wall, this time planting his hands on either side of her head to block her passage. Elizabeth looked up angrily, green staring into grey and crossed her arms. She had no time for this; she had to go find Harry. At least she could think a little more as to where he might be... No, not really; he was probably at Hagrid's hut. The girl snapped out of her thoughts and looked back at Draco. His white-blond hair fell over his eyes in a disheveled manner, quite the opposite of his two previous years. His pale cheeks were flushed pink in irritation and his pale grey eyes twinkled with concern She had to admit: even if he was a prat sometimes (or all the time) he was rather attractive. Not that she'd ever say that out loud; her cheeks burned red just at the thought.

"Draco, let me go."

"No, where are you going?"

"That is none of your concern-"

"None of my concern!?" Malfoy growled "Believe it or not, Elizabeth; I worry about you!"

"Y-You do?" Ella stuttered, not believing her ears "I... Well, uh... Whatever. That's not important right now. Right now, I have to go... I'm sorry, Draco."

With one swift movement, Elizabeth pushed her friend back and ran off. The girl didn't stop, even when when Draco called for her, shouting about getting Snape. Oh, well... She'd get another detention.

The Slytherin ran through the halls, ignoring the paintings' protests and shouts. The thought of dread at the back of her mind only grew stronger when she reached Hagrid's hut and found no one but the half-giant himself. Turning around and heading back up the hill, she spotted three figures coming close to the Whomping Willow. Without thinking, she ran as fast as she could, her heartbeat loud in her ears and heavy in her chest. Upon reaching the trio, Hermione made it apparent that she wasn't happy to see the girl that was once her sister.

"What are you doing here?" she asked bitterly

"There's something wrong." Liz said simply, a panicked look in her eyes

"Oh, please-"

"HERMIONE, LISTEN TO ME! I had to lie to my Head of House, ignore my best friend, push away Draco and yell at my sister today... Let. Me. Speak."

Harry saw the panic in his sister's eyes, and so did Ron and Hermione, whose gaze softened when Liz called her her sister again. Hermione nodded, giving her sister permission to speak.

"There's something wrong. Something bad is about to happen."

"What is it?" Harry asked

"I don't know; it's just something is... screaming at the back of my mind telling me-" she cut herself off, voice suddenly gone soft "Bloody hell..."

"Your mind's telling you 'bloody hell'? Wow, Elizabeth-"

"No, Ronald... Behind you."

The trio wheeled and saw what Elizabeth had seen, and what professor Trelawney had been babbling about all year. Bounding toward them in the gathering gloom was an enormous, pale-eyed, jet black dog: the Grim. Fearing the worst, Harry shielded himself and his sister when the dog leaped clear over the twins. The dog's teeth flashed white in the moonlight and snapped down on Ron's foot, dragging him towards the Whomping Willow's trunk like a ragdoll. Instantly, Harry dashed forward, leaped out and grabbed Ron's hands, but the two simply kept skidding along the ground.

"Harry, no!" Rose shouted

Rose shouted loudly, but not in concern. Of course she didn't want her half-brother to get hurt, or Ron and Hermione for that matter, but for once in her life, she wanted to trust the villain in this story. It may have sounded silly to Draco, Rachel and probably professor Snape, but she trusted her cat, Aslan's, instincts in not fearing whatever came into her dorm room the other night. The grey eyes that she remembered seeing, were those of Sirius Black... but also those of that dog. For some reason, her mind was begging her to trust the black canine.

"Merlin's beard! He's an animagus..." Liz whispered to herself "That's how he got out of Azakaban..."

Suddenly, Hermione pitched herself onto Harry's legs, grabbing hold of them with great difficulty. Then they were three skidding along the damp grass, muddying their clothes. With a loud groan, Elizabeth dashed over and threw herself onto Harry's other leg, falling beside Hermione. Harry raised his chin and saw the dog vanish into the gap at the base of the Whomping Willow, pulling Ron in with him. The raven-haired boy pleaded with Ron to stay strong, but Ron, in a self-sacrificing-oh-so-Gryffindor-move, slowly let go of Harry one finger at a time as to save his friends. With a powerful tug, Ron was dragged into the hole, his screams echoing deep into the earth. Harry, Hermione and Liz rose and peered into the gap.

"What is it with you Gryffindors and self-sacrifice!?" Elizabeth shouted desperately

In a flash, the Whomping Willow swept the trio off of their feet, sending them into the air and down to the ground, landing on their backs. As one, Hermione and Harry rose, and ran back toward the gap in the tree. Elizabeth stayed back, refusing to go any further. After all, she wasn't one of those self-sacrificing idiots as she would call them. Instead, she tried to figure out how get through safely, unlike her friends which were getting flung and smacked in the gut by large willow branches.

"Okay, think Ella... Think." she muttered to herself "You were almost put in Ravenclaw for a reason, you twit... The tree must have a weakness; everything does. Maybe it's a spell? No, the tree's too big to be withheld by a spell." Liz muttered, remembering the troll in her first year "Maybe there's a spot on the tree that's its Achilles heel..."

Harry and Hermione flew past her, screaming, and were then thrown into the gap in the tree. Panicked, Elizabeth listened to the echoing sounds of their screams. Then, out of the blue, Rose felt something rub itself on her calf. Looking down, she spotted Aslan, purring away.

"Aslan, what're you doing here? It's not the time to be chasing after Ron's rat."

The cat rushed forward, avoiding a whomping branch and pressed a knot in the roots of the tree that was sticking out of the ground. All of a sudden, the chaotic branches calmed as if under the effects of a Sleeping Draught. She knew she could trust Aslan! With a giant smile, Ellie ran forward with her feline companion, and swung herself into the gap at the base of the willow. The girl slid down for a few moments until she bumped into something, causing her to launch forward and land on her stomach, face dragging on the floor. She heard a few gasps before she was gently lifted off the ground; she had bumped into Hermione and Harry.

"Sorry to have bumped into you two." Liz chuckled, bringing a hand to her burning face "Ugh, this is going to leave a nasty scar."

"How did you get through unscathed? Well, without that big gash on your face..." Hermione asked, giving Liz a once-over

"I was almost put in Ravenclaw for a reason, Hermione."

"Yeah, okay, that's great." Harry said impatiently "Can we go now? Ron's in trouble!"

Harry and Hermione dashed off, Elizabeth following at slower pace. It was no use arguing with them. What would they think if she told them that she thought Sirius Black, presumed murderer of Peter Pettigrew and about a dozen Muggles, wasn't a danger to them... Innocent of all charges even. As daft as that sounded, she began to ponder if it was possible.

The trio then slowed down, making their way through the primitive passageway, ducking the roots that dangled overhead. Then, abruptly, the tunnel ended. Confused, Harry and Hermione glanced about, then Elizabeth sighed and pointed upwards. The Gryffindors looked up and spotted a small opening. Harry reached up first and hoisted himself up, then pulled up his sister and Hermione. Glancing around, the trio immediately recognized the place; paper peeled from the thin walls, scattered furniture laid strewn everywhere and a layer of dirt and dust covered everything. They were in the Shrieking Shack. Harry looked down and tapped both of the girls' shoulders, who then followed his gaze. Dog prints sunk in the layer of dust on the floor, followed by staggering lines which could only be Ron's feet dragging and kicking. Suddenly, the ceiling creaked loudly in the eerily silent house. The trio then made a mad dash to the stairs and ran to the end of the corridor, where a light seeped from a door. Slowly, they stepped to it. Harry then kicked the door aside. At the opposite end of the room, Ron sat upright upon a sagging bed, clutching his bloodied foot.

"Ron! You're okay!" Hermione gasped, smiling

"Of course, he's fine." Liz muttered to herself

"The dog, Ron. Where's the-"

"It's a trap, Harry. He's the dog! He's an animagus!" Ron interrupted, his voice uneaven

"I knew it..." Elizabeth said quietly and turned, Aslan purring at her feet before he stalked off towards the darkness she was staring at

"YOU KNEW!?" the Gryffindors chorused angrily

"Not until a half... hour... ago?"

Elizabeth stood, motionless. Before her was the man she had seen so many times on wanted posters and the Daily Prophet alike, Aslan purring happily in his arms. Sirius Black. Filthy, matted hair hung to his shoulders, his skin like that of a corpse. Azkaban really did take a toll on him, Liz thought. She'd seen so many pictures of him on walls at Hogwarts and in books at the library; he looked so young, so happy... But she noticed that his eyes - his pale grey eyes - still held the same sparkle. Black studied Elizabeth's face and smiled, a ghost of a kind man behind it. She didn't know why she did it, but the Slytherin meekly smiled back. Her brain was telling her things that made sense, but her heart told her to trust whatever was left of this man. He let Aslan down, who curled up on a dusty sofa nearby.

"I-I told you that c-cat was e-evil!" Ron stuttered

"Liz! Get back!" Hermione shouted, ignoring Ron and drawing her wand at Black "If you want to kill Harry or Liz, you'll have to go through me!"

"No... Only one will die tonight..." Black said calmly, breaking his gaze from Liz and landing it on Harry

"Then it'll be you!" Harry shouted, pouncing forward

"Harry, no!" Ella screamed, stopping Harry in his tracks

Just then, footsteps sounded outside. Black wheeled toward the door, edgy. Harry eyed him, his body shaking violently in Elizabeth's arms. As Black turned back, he stopped and regarded Harry cautiously.

"Going to kill me, Harry?" he taunted

"Yes." the boy replied

"I'm not sure your sister... or her cat for that matter, is going to allow it."

Sirius Black then looked over to Elizabeth and winked at the same time her feline friend got up and walked around the room. Harry detached himself from her and glared, raising his wand towards the fugitive. Rapidly, Elizabeth brought out her own wand and pointed it at Harry just as the door swung open with a loud booming sound, revealing Remus Lupin.

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione shouted gladly

The professor ignored her and looked over at Black. Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed. How did he know they were going to be there? How did - wait. It all suddenly clicked in her mind. Lupin was a werewolf, that much she knew for sure, as well as the fact they were in the Shrieking Shack... It was called that for a reason... of course! The howls that people must have heard coming from the house were probably Lupin during his transformations! Oh no... Tonight was the full moon... He didn't know that they would be there... He intended to transform in peace. And from all the books she had read, and the pictures and stories she'd heard, Elizabeth knew that Peter Pettigrew, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Sirius Black were the best of friends during their time at Hogwarts. What Liz didn't understand was why Black was an Animagus. Unless...

"Looking a ragged, aren't we, Sirius?" Lupin said with a small smirk "Finally the skin shows the madness within."

"You'd know all about the madness within, wouldn't you, Remus?" Black joked

The two regarded each other, the moment taut with tension. Lupin then stepped forward, hesitant, and embraced Black like a brother. I knew it, Elizabeth thought, a small smile drawing itself on her lips. Aslan meowed happily, winding himself around Lupin and Black's legs. All students, save Liz, looked oddly at the feline. Harry didn't stare at him much longer and looked back to the presumed murderer, his wand still pointed straight at him, Ella's at her own brother though she'd never cast a spell on him.

"No! I trusted you! I covered up for you." Hermione shouted at Lupin

"'Mione, calm down." Rose said firmly

"No! All this time he's been his friend! He's a werewolf, Lizzie! That's why he's been missing classes!"

"I know."

Harry and Ron stared, dumbfounded, at Lupin, then angrily at their Slytherin friend. Black suddenly howled, bitterly amused. Lupin rolled his eyes at him, then turned back.

"How long have you known?" he asked Hermione

"Since Snape set the essay. But that doesn't matter! How long have you known, you little Slytherin traitor?" the girl asked, her wand pointed at Ella, making the cat hiss "Even your cat is a traitor!"

"I've known just as long as you, Hermione." the Slytherin spat "And I'm not the problem here, neither are Black and Lupin... or Aslan, for that matter!"

"You two really are the brightest witches of your age..." Lupin contemplated, smiling at Elizabeth

"Yes, you glow like the sun, and you howl at the moon. Enough talk!" Black shouted, turning to Lupin "He dies. Now. If you won't do it with me, Remus, I'll do it alone."

"Wait, Sirius-"

"I did my waiting! Twelve years of it... IN AZKABAN! Trust me, you wouldn't have lasted a week."

"You'd be surprised, Black." Liz said snidely

Black eyed the girl wearily, grey orbs twinkling oddly. Lupin smiled at the Slytherin, thankful for support in whatever was going on. Black shook his head, ridding himself of his thoughts and looked back at Lupin, who nodded.

"All right then. As you wish..."

"No!" Harry shouted

Harry raised his wand when Lupin wheeled and, with a flick of his own, easily disarmed him. Aslan, like a puppy, went to fetch it and placed it on a dusty desk out of Harry's reach. Furious, Harry eyed the feline and his sister, who still pointed her wand at him, then at Black, murderously.

"He betrayed our mother, Elizabeth! You betrayed my father! You sold them to Voldemort!"

"It's a lie! I never would've betrayed James and Lily!" Black countered, a pleading look in his eyes

"Harry, you've got to listen-"

"Did he listen!?" Harry interrupted Lupin "When our mother was dying! Did he hear her screaming!?"

"No! I wasn't there! And I'll regret it the rest of my life!"

Elizabeth's eyes filled with pain, as did Black's. She never knew her mother, much less remembered any time spent with her, but just the thought of her loss almost brought the unbreakable girl to tears.

"Someone else betrayed your parents, Harry. Someone in this room right now. Someone who, until quite recently, I believed to be dead." professor Lupin said

"He's as good as dead." Black and Ellie said simultaneously

"What are you two on about? There's nobody else here!" Harry growled at his sister and Black

"So, you've figured it out eh?" Sirius said in Elizabeth's direction, then looked back at her brother "There is someone else in here..."

Black turned unexpectedly to Ron and crooned in a cruel sing-song voice, making Aslan turn to the redhead as well and hiss angrily. Elizabeth's idea seemed plausible at this point.

"Come out, come out, Peter... Come out and play..."

"You're mad..." Ron gasped, drawing back from Black's demented gaze and the feline's hissing

Elizabeth lowered her wand as Sirius Black and her professor moved past her and Harry, who glared. The girl then nodded towards Ron. Harry's eyes shifted from Ron's terrified face to his hands, where Scabbers twisted violently, as Aslan drew nearer seemingly stalking prey. A curious expression fell upon the boy's features and looked back towards his sister, eyebrows furrowed. She simply nodded back to Ron and the rat. Lupin and Black, as one, raised their wands toward Ron and Scabbers, making the red-haired Gryffindor's face grow more terrified. But they're interrupted when...

"Expelliarmus!" a low voice shouted clearly

The wands flew from Black and Lupin's hands. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth turned, only to find Snape standing in the doorway, smiling smugly. The caramel-coloured feline, surprisingly, went over to the man and purred as well. However, dread fell upon Elizabeth again; her Head of House wouldn't understand the situation they were in.

"Ah, vengeance is sweet. How I hoped I'd be the one to catch you." Snape drawled, eyeing Black, the cat and then turned to Ella "Miss Evans; come here."

For the first time since her first year at Hogwarts, Elizabeth hesitated; should she listen to Snape or stand by Sirius Black, a wanted murderer? She tried to stay calm, appear strong and decisive, like she knew what she was doing but the thought of having to chose a side was eating at her, and her cat wasn't helping either; he was simply sitting beside Ron, guarding the stupid rat. Her left hand fiddled with the hem of her shirt while the other held her wand firmly. Whether the Slytherin professor saw the conflict in her gaze or the anxiety in her actions, she didn't know. All she was capable of doing at the moment was stay silent.

"Severus-"

"I told Dumbledore you were helping your old friend into the castle. And here's the proof." Snape said, interrupting Lupin "Miss Evans, now!"

"Brilliant! And - as usual - dead wrong!" Black chuckled "Now give us our wands back. Remus and I have a bit of unfinished business to tend to."

As Black approached to grab his wand, Snape put his to Black's neck.

"Give me a reason. I beg you." the Slytherin glared "Miss Evans, come here, now!"

"Leave her be, Severus... Don't be a fool." professor Lupin tried

"He can't help it. It's a habit by now." Black chuckled

"Be quiet, Sirius." Lupin argued

"Listen to you two." Snape sighed "Quarreling like a married couple; the creature and the criminal."

"Piss off." Sirius said simply

"Witty as ever I see. Tell me, will you be so irreverent when I turn you over to the Dementors?" Black's face changed immediately "Do I detect a flicker of fear? One can only imagine what it must be like to endure the Dementor's Kiss. It's said to be unbearable to witness. But I'll do my best." the Slytherin continued, his eyes hardening "Miss Evans, for the last time!"

Elizabeth stayed in place. She couldn't and didn't want to move. She knew in her heart that Sirius Black was innocent, it was obvious - to her anyway. But she was somehow fiercely loyal to Severus Snape and never dared to cross him. Today was a special day however... She looked over at her Head of House and shook her head slowly.

"See? Even your favourite little student is on my side, Snape." Black barked, emphasizing the word student "She's even on wolfy's side, over here! Now, we can't have that can we?"

"Shut up, Black." Snape sneered dangerously "Elizabeth. Now."

Rose's eyes went wide; as did everyone else's (save Snape of course). It may have not been a big deal had professor Lupin said her first name... but professor Snape? He never called anyone by their first name, let alone a student. And why would Black care about her being his favourite student or her being on Lupin's side for a change? It wasn't that important, was it?

In all the confusion and yelling, Harry and managed to get a hold of his wand. At first he pointed it at Elizabeth, but wheeled around and pointed it at Sirius Black, when he saw that she had put her wand away. But he changed his mind again and disarmed Snape, sending the man flying into the opposite wall and putting Aslan on high alert. Ellie gasped and made a run for him, but Lupin grabbed her, holding her firmly but not as to hurt her.

"Let me go!" Liz shouted

"Elizabeth, calm down." the only conscious professor demanded

"Calm down!? How can I calm down? Harry just attacked my Head of House!"

"I know how loyal you are to him-"

"God knows, why." Black sighed

"-but you need to listen to me and calm down."

"Give me one good reason why I should listen to you!?" Elizabeth demanded angrily, wriggling out of Lupin's grip

The man hesitated under the girl's glare, so fierce that it could rival Snape's.

"She's a feisty one, she is."

"Be quiet, Sirius." Lupin warned

"Siriusly, man. Shut it." Rose said with a roll of her eyes

"Did she just-?" Black cut himself off

"Oh, I did."

"Not bad, kid."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Now I'll go see professor Snape, if you don't mind." Liz said and wheeled, only to be grabbed by Lupin again "GIVE ME A REASON!"

"Come on, lad. Just tell her!"

"I well, uh..." Lupin stuttered

"HE'S YOUR GODFATHER!" Black shouted, throwing his hands up in exasperation

Elizabeth stopped struggling immediately. Her breath caught in her throat at the same time she heard Hermione gasp - like she always did when any kind of information was revealed. Lupin set her down, hoping the Slytherin wouldn't run off. Thankfully, she didn't. Rose simply turned around to face her... godfather.

"Oh... Uh, okay." the girl managed to say

"O-Okay?" Lupin stuttered

"Y-Yeah... I have family other than Harry." Liz breathed and let out a nervous laugh "I have more family?Ha! This is great."

Rose's attention was then grabbed by Hermione, Harry and Ron going especially silent. They all just stood there with different expressions on their faces. Harry, who still had his wand pointed at Black, looked like he was about to explode because of all the different emotions he was showing. His face was red from anger at just about everything, but he looked happy for his sister, as well as confused about the whole thing. Hermione was beaming. She was happy no one she cared about was going to die and that her 'sister' had someone other than Harry to look out for her. Ron, on the other hand, still looked terrified because of the cat and the 'murderer'. Elizabeth shifted on her feet.

"Sorry, Harry. Family stuff, apparently."

"Yeah, I saw."

"Carry on..."

"Right... You said Peter, earlier..." Harry said to Black, making Aslan hiss at the rodent in Ron's hands "Peter who?"

"Pettigrew. He was at school with us. We thought him a friend." Lupin said

"No, Pettigrew's dead. He killed him." the boy pointed Black

"Harry you know that's not true." Elizabeth sighed "You and I both saw his name on the Map..."

"You should listen to your sister more often, Harry. I thought Pettigrew to be dead too until you mentioned seeing him on the Map." Remus admitted

"The Map was lying then!" Harry tried

"The Map never lies. Pettigrew's alive and he's right there-" Black said, pointing at Ron

"M-Me? He's a lunatic..." Ron stuttered

"Not you, you idiot!" Liz sighed "Your rat!"

Remus and Black turned to the girl, a bewildered look on their faces.

"Yes, I figured it out. Don't look so surprised, you two." Ella rolled her eyes "Merlin's beard... Ron, give them your stupid rat, please. Or at least let Aslan eat him."

"Sc-Scabbers? I-It can't be him! H-He's been in my f-family for-"

"Twelve years." Black said bitterly "Curiously long life for a garden rat. He's missing a toe, isn't he?"

"So w-what?"

"It was everywhere in the news, Ronald. All that was left of Pettigrew was a finger!" Elizabeth explained

"Dirty coward cut it off so everyone would think he was dead. Then he transformed into a rat and ran." the fugitive continued

Harry stared into Elizabeth's eyes, searching for any sign of a lie. He then turned to Black, wand still pointed, and stared into his sunken pale grey orbs wanting to believe; desperate to believe. The boy then glanced at Ron and his agonized face. Scabbers squirmed violently in his hands as the feline readied himself to pounce.

"Show me."


	48. The Rat, the Werewolf and the Dementors

The night sky stood like an inky canopy of darkness freckled only by the fewest of stars, where just hours ago it had been a sunny autumn's day. The nearly full moon hid behind a wall of dull grey clouds, aching to peak through and shine its beams upon the damp grass. The occasional hoot of a hidden owl was the only sound to permeate the silence until a chorus of shouts and breaking furniture echoed angrily from the Shrieking Shack. White-blue light was cast from the wands of Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, as they pointed their them at a seemingly unsuspecting garden rat. A caramel-coloured feline chased after said rat, hoping to stop it in order for the two wizards to demonstrate what they, and a thirteen year old witch, had been trying to convey through words.

Suddenly, the feline was able to pounce on the rat's tail, preventing it from moving any further. Lupin and Black then, as one, pointed their wands at the rodent, the same white-blue light coming out the tips of their wands. This time however, it managed to hit the rat. Scabbers twisted madly in midair, then with a large white flash, it transformed into a very short man. His eyes were tiny and watery, mimicking those of a rat, and so did his pointed nose. His mousy brown hair had paled and thinned, leaving a large bald spot on the back of his head, and he seemed quite old compared to Lupin and Black, even with the stress of Azkaban. Peter Pettigrew. Elizabeth couldn't believe her eyes... She was right and had finally proven Hermione, Ron and Harry wrong.

"S-Sirius... R-Remus... My old friends." he squeaked

Neither of the men spoke, they simply glared. Pettigrew's small, watery eyes then darted toward the windows and door. Suddenly, he made a break for it, but Sirius merely shoved him back where he was. Pettigrew's nose twitched like a rat's, his gaze finding Harry and Elizabeth. His hands fluttered nervously, revealing his missing index finger.

"H-Harry, Elizabeth! L-Look at you!" he turned to the girl "Y-you look just like your mother; l-like Lily. A-And Harry... You look just like your father, J-James. We were the b-best of friends, he and I -"

"Shut up!" Sirius barked

"I didn't mean to! The Dark Lord, you have no idea the weapons he possesses!" Pettigrew squeaked "Ask yourself what you would have done, Sirius? What would you have done!?"

"DIED!" Black shouted "Died rather than betray my friends! And you should have realized that if Voldemort didn't kill you..."

"We would." Lupin finished

"No... please... you can't... Ron! Haven't I been a good friend? A good pet? You won't let them kill me, will you? I was your rat..."

Aslan, now sitting on Ron's lap, hissed as the boy drew back in disgust. Pettigrew then turned to Hermione, eyes pleading.

"Sweet girl. Clever girl. Surely you won't let them..."

"Get away from her." Elizabeth growled

"Ah, Elizabeth! Surely, a-as a Slytherin you understand s-self-preservation?" Pettigrew questioned

"You forget that my mum was a Gryffindor, you murderer!"

As one, Lupin and Black raised their wands, pointing them directly into Pettigrew's face as he clung to Rose's leg. He shrunk back trembling, closing his eyes in fear, when...

"No!" Harry shouted

Pettigrew's eyelids lifted. Lupin and Black turned, staggered. Ella's angry eyes turned to her brother. What was he thinking!? This man had gotten both of his parents killed! Gotten their mother killed! Why would he allow that kind of person to live!?

"Harry! That thing-"

"I know what he is. But we'll take him to the castle." Harry interrupted his sister

"Bless you, boy! Bless you!" Pettigrew squeaked still holding onto Elizabeth's leg

"Get off of her! I said we'd take you to the castle. After that... the Dementors can have you."

* * *

Remus, Sirius, Harry, Hemione, Ron, Elizabeth and Pettigrew emerged from the gap in the Whomping Willow, its branches still in a trance. Aslan was trailing behind the group, following an unconscious Snape that was under a spell Hermione had put on him. The two girls walked side-by-side, the raven-haired witch looking nervously behind at her Head of House, as he bumped his head on a low branch.

"Don't worry, Liz... He'll be fine."

"I know, he will. That's not what I'm worried about. It's.. I just- That man... well, minus the angry stares and books behind the head... He's-"

"What you strive to be." Hermione finished "I know... Being a potions master would suit you, you know."

"You really think so, Mione?" Ella asked

"I do; you'd be a lot less scary than him, so that's a bonus." both girls chuckled "And- And I'm sorry I didn't trust your judgement and got angry at you. I really am, I-"

"I forgive you. Just... trust me next time. I kind of happen to be smart and know what I'm doing." the girl jested, then stared off at Lupin who was surveying Pettigrew

"Go and talk to him." Hermione suggested. The other sighed "Lizzie, you've got a brother and a Godfather now! Enjoy it."

Elizabeth, at a loss for words, tackled Hermione in a hug.

"And I'll understand if you want to go with him..."

"Leave you with your parents and live with him? Hermione, I couldn't possibly-"

"Lizzie," Hermione pulled back and held her 'sister' at arm's length "Mum, Dad and you don't get along at all. It's almost worse than professor Snape and Harry... Go. You'll be better off, trust me. I kind of happen to be smart."

Ellie smiled, teary-eyed, and cautiously made her way towards her... Godfather. But, what should she tell him? How would he react? How was she supposed to be reacting? Was she supposed to be happy that she kind of had a parent? Or was she supposed to be sad for leaving Hermione? Nothing in her mind made sense at the moment. All she could think about was chocolate pudding and the fact that Remus Lupin was the closest thing to a parent she'd ever have, and that put a smile on her face. Unless her father suddenly revealed himself to her, which was unlikely. She approached Lupin, immeditely hearing Pettigrew's pleas to spare him.

"Turn me into a maggot. A dung beetle. A Flobberworm! Anything but the Dementors... Please, Remus! Oh! my dear Elizabeth-"

"Don't speak to her." Remus warned, making the criminal go silent. He then turned to his goddaughter, a smile on his face "Are you all right, Elizabeth?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm great." the girl smiled up at him "So, you're my godfather, eh?"

"It was your mother's idea... I'm glad she came to me."

"So am I."

"Elizabeth..." Lupin began "I don't know if you know, but when you were born, Lily made me your guardian..."

"I figured as much." Liz replied

"And well, I'll understand if you choose to stay with Hermione, or simply don't want to because of well, my condition... but, just so you know, you could-"

"Come live with you? I'd like that."

Remus and Elizabeth smiled at each other before the girl suddenly hugged him. Neither of them were expecting that action on her part, always complaining about personal space. Hermione looked on from beside Ron and Pettigrew, who had moved over there during the conversation, and smiled. Her 'sister' finally had someone to look out for her... Suddenly, Lupin went stiff, fingers twitching. Rose pulled back, concerned and glanced up at the sky. She had forgotten the moon... It was now full. Remus' eyes began to shift from their usual olive green, to a bright shade of yellow.

"SIRIUS!" the girl screamed, panicked

He and Harry turned immediately, and ran over.

"Remus, old friend... did you take your potion tonight?" Sirius asked

Lupin, twitching, shook his head. He hadn't taken his Wolfsbane Potion... Behind them, Pettigrew's eyes darted, taking in the situation, then slowly shifted toward the wand trembling in Remus' lengthening fist. Sirius turned back, expression dangerously stern.

"Run. All of you. Now!"

But none of them ran, transfixed, watching as bristles began to poke through Lupin's skin. Elizabeth took a step forward but was stopped by Harry who grabbed her hand. She was forced to watch as her godfather's skin ripped and morphed into something he wasn't; a monster. Black however, didn't take his own advice and stepped forward. He wrapped his arms around his friend, pressing his mouth to his ear.

"You know the man you truly are, Remus. This flesh is only flesh." he said, pounding Lupin's chest "This heart is where you truly live. This heart! Here!"

Lupin's wand dropped from his hand and was immediately taken by Pettigrew. Harry disarmed him, but the man hideously transformed into a rat and scurried off into the night. Suddenly, a low growl pierced the tense silence. With a shrug, Remus tossed Sirius into the air and turned towards the children. Yellow eyes, long sharp teeth... Lupin was no longer human; he was a werewolf.

Harry, Elizabeth and Hermione spun, beginning to flee but ran flat into a sleepwalking Snape. As they collapsed in a great clumsy pile, Snape's eyes fluttered open, the spell broken. Seeing Elizabeth atop him, he swept her aside and found the werewolf preparing to pounce. Leaping to his feet, Snape drew his wand and stepped forward, shielding the four children. The werewolf howled and sprinted forward when Black, in animagus form, intercepted it in midair. They hit the ground in a fierce tangle of flashing teeth and sharp claws, a single horrible flailing beast. Again and again, the dog pushed the werewolf back, but the werewolf was too strong. The dog yelped and roared in pain as the werewolf flung it into the tall grass. As it charged after Black, Harry pushed past Snape, dashing into the night. Both Hermione and Elizabeth made a move to follow, but Snape held them back. However, Ella fought against him more than Hermione and managed to break free his grasp, Snape struggling to get a hold of her again.

"Elizabeth!" she heard Snape call, a rare glimpse of emotion in his voice

"I know it's dangerous professor, but I have to..." the girl panted, turning around "My family's out there."

Ignoring the look in Snape's eyes, her desire to flee and to hide under the bed in her dorm, the self-preservation anchored Slytherin ran off after her brother. Soon, she'd caught up to him. The girl's lungs and chest heaved painfully, the gash on her face burned immensely and the numbness in her limbs made it impossible to feel her fractured leg. With a nod, the siblings ran full out. Up ahead, framed against a full moon, they spied the dog lying inert, the werewolf's razor sharp claws suspended over its neck.

"NO!" Harry cried out

Desperately, the boy plucked a thick branch from the ground and hurled it at the creature with all his might. Bull's eye. The werewolf froze and turned towards the students, starting to draw nearer. Elizabeth and Harry both drew their wands, terrified, but tormented as well. They both knew that Lupin dwelled somewhere within the beast.

"Please, Remus... Stop..." Elizabeth begged, crystalline tears welling in her eyes "It's me... It's Elizabeth."

Suddenly, a howl pierced the night. The werewolf faltered, cocking its head toward the forest. Harry and Liz waited, petrified. The werewolf's eyes shifted back to them. It snarled and moved closer, ready to kill. Harry hugged his sister, prepared for the worst when a second howl echoed high above the forest. Slowly, Harry dropped his arms and looked at Elizabeth. Tears fell freely from her eyes as she saw the werewolf bounding towards the forest; he'd never seen her look so broken. Both of their gazes then shifted towards something else moving in the darkness. The wounded dog lurched through the tall grass, falling and rising repeatedly, each time becoming more human. As he disappeared over the ridge, the siblings sprinted after him. The two stumbled upon a secluded area of the Black Lake and noticed Sirius lying at the water's edge, now fully a man, his arms and face gleaming with scarlet lacerations.

"Sirius!" Harry cried, looking into the man's glassy eyes "Sirius!"

Was he... No. He couldn't be! They'd just freed him, cleared his name! It couldn't be over like this! Suddenly, thin silver wisps came from the siblings' mouths. A raw wind tossed their raven hair, the cold cutting through their ripped clothing and into their wounds like knives. Goose-pimples pebbled their skin and a fringe of ice appeared at the lake's edge. Then they appeared, oozing like smoke through the trees across the lake. Dementors.

"NO!" Harry and Liz both shouted, drawing their wands. They weren't going to take Sirius "EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Thin silvery-blue wisps wept from Harry and Rose's wands, hovering like a veil, but the Dementors continued to come. Harry grabbed his sister's free hand placed it on Sirius' heaving heart, alongside his own hand. They both poised their wands again.

"Expecto... Patronum!" they both shouted

Their Patronus bloomed briefly, deflecting a few Dementors, but it died quickly. They were too weak. And even though Elizabeth had managed to produce a corporeal Patronus before, it was no use; she could barely move. The raven-haired siblings' eyes then began to flutter, the Dementors madly twisting in their vision, drawing nearer. Suddenly, Black gasped and his eyes opened wide. Silvery feathers of light tumbled from his lips as if his very soul were leaving him. Then... a light splintered the trees. The students squinted and saw a fiery stag and doe appear, their luminous bodies slashing through the trees and sowing light in the darkness. The Dementors wilted in their wake, but more replaced them, sweeping down in waves. Still, the stag and doe charged on, their silvery-blue light expanding, the forest blazing with it. Finally, the remaining Dementors fled, drifting across the moon like dust in the wind. The light slowly dimmed, and the stag and doe flickered. Suddenly, a bright flash of white light washed over the forest, blinding the siblings. But the darkness returned just as quickly as it left. Only a single thread of light remained, spinning down to about the size of a pearl and into the palms of a man and a woman standing deep in the trees. Elizabeth and Harry studied the strangely familiar silhouettes and then... they were gone, silence and darkness dropping like a curtain.


	49. One Down, One to Go

Waking up was no longer the pleasure it used to be. There would be a fleeting moment when Elizabeth felt as if she were whole again, but it evaporated faster than summer rain off the burnt earth. Her eyelids would droop, leaden with sleep and snap open as violently as if she'd been woken by wailing sirens. Nightmares had been plaguing her head, more so often than usual. But by the time her eyes had opened, her brain would become overwhelmed all over again as if it were all new, fresh, raw, free of the disturbing images invading her mind. At times, however, the memories lingered...

As Elizabeth roused from a heavy slumber, she was first aware of the coolness of the air that touched her skin. Whatever she was laying on was lumpy as if she were on a bed of earth and rocks. Her clothes felt damp, clinging to her limbs. Her jade eyes slowly opened, letting the sunlight blurry her vision. All she could see was white. She half-wondered if she was still dreaming; there were no sounds, no movement, no signs of another person. Soon however, spots of colour began to fade into the curtain of white and sounds began to permeate through the numbness of her ears. She began to hear scuffing noises and the gentle hum of voices. Rose gradually felt the numbness in her toes and fingers, the fabric gently rubbing against her skin, her head on something soft. Shapes began to form before her. The first things she saw and heard were the outline of a few people and a jumble of familiar voices surrounding her.

"Is she awake!?" she heard Harry say

"Her eyes are open, what do you think?" came Malfoy's reply

"Liz! Lizzie, are you all right?" Hermione asked, panicked

"Calm down would you? Your face'll freak her out." Draco said snidely

"I could say the same for you, my friend." Amir's voice sounded

"Shut it, Ferran." the blond argued

"All of you... Be quiet..."

As demanded, the voices stopped. Elizabeth now could see clearly and found that Malfoy, Amir, Harry and Hermione were surrounding her bed, worried expression drawn upon their features. Ron was on his own bed, observing from afar. Blinking repeatedly, Liz sat up with her brother's help. The pounding in her head was almost unbearable, her face and legs burned in pain, and breathing was somewhat of an Olympic sport.

Madam Pomfrey immediately came over, pushing all of the students aside. She removed the bandage that was on Rose's face, revealing the cut on her cheekbone and more bruising. The girl turned to the side and glanced at herself in the mirror. She chuckled.

"My, don't I look wonderful..."

"No, you don't!" Madam Pomfrey gasped, handing her a greenish potion "Here, take this; your face should be healed up in no time. However, I can't guarantee there won't be any scarring..." the woman then handed her a blueish drink "And drink this one too."

"Another scar on my face? Great..."

"You have a scar on your face?" Draco asked, pushing past the matron

"You never noticed?" Rose questioned, then pointed to her lip "It's right here."

"Excuse me for not being creepy and perpetually staring at your face."

"So you stare at her visage in a longing manner?" Amir taunted

"What? I didn't say that!" Draco argued

"But it was implied..."

"You little-"

"BOYS!" Madam Pomfrey shouted "Out now. Leave the poor girl alone, she needs her rest."

Both Slytherin boys rose begrudgingly, arguing on their way out. Madam Pomfrey sighed, shaking her head, then turned to Harry and demanded he go back to bed. Thankfully, the look the matron gave him was enough to startle him back onto his cot. Elizabeth downed her blue potion, cringing at the taste. Suddenly, she felt her leg burn and assumed something had broken and was now slowly fusing back together. She drank the green liquid and felt a tingling sensation on her face. The girl turned back towards the mirror only to see her gash closing up, skin forming a distinct scar on her fair skin. It already resembled an old scar that had been pink years ago, now shiny and pale. Elizabeth would carry it with her into old age. She sighed at the thought; Rose was already self-conscious about the smaller scar. Now she had a bigger, badder scar to worry about.

"It doesn't look that bad, Lizzie." Hermione tried to reassure

"Says you..."

"I think it looks wicked!" Ron smiled

"Thanks, Ron." the Slytherin chuckled

Harry had been quiet for a while now, ignoring the conversation about his sister's scar. But he suddenly sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the cot, grabbing everyone's attention. Good thing Madam Pomfrey wasn't there.

"Harry?" Hermione wondered

"I saw them..." he said simply

"What?"

"My mum and dad... Across the lake. They sent the Dementors away."

"Hey, I saw people across the lake too..." Ella noted, thinking back

"Listen, you two." Hermione said "They've captured Sirius. Any minute the Dementors are going to perform the Kiss."

"What? They can't!"

"The Kiss?" Harry asked

"It's what Dementors do to those they want to destroy. They clamp their jaws over the victim's mouth and... suck out their soul." the Gryffindor witch admitted

"You mean they're going to kill Sirius?"

"No, Harry. It's worse... Much worse." Liz sighed, fingers playing at her new scar "You go on living. But you have no memory. No sense of self. You're just a shell... An empty shell."

Just as Harry's face changed from bad to worse, Dumbledore entered the room with his usual purple robes swishing at his feet. All four children began to panic.

"Headmaster! You've got to stop them; they've go the wrong man!" Hermione exclaimed

"It's true, Sir!" Harry added "Sirius is innocent!"

"It was Scabbers!" Ron called

"Scabbers?" Dumbledore inquired

"My rat, sir. Only he's not really a rat. Well, he was a rat. You see, he used to be my brother Percy's -"

"The point is..." Ellie interrupted the ginger "we know the truth. Please, Sir, you must believe us!"

"I do, Elizabeth. But I'm sorry to say the word of three thirteen year-old wizards will convince few others. A child's voice, however honest and true, is meaningless to those who have forgotten how to listen." the Headmaster said

Dumbledore turned to the window and observed the darkness. All students turned, and at that moment a shooting star plummeted silently through the sky.

"Ah... a shooting star. If ever one was to make a wish, now would be the time. But time, I'm afraid, is precisely our problem..." Dumbledore said mysteriously

Just then, the midnight bell began to chime loud and clear.

"Mysterious thing, time. Powerful. And, when meddled with... dangerous. Sirius Black is in the topmost cell of the Dark Tower." the Headmaster said, then turned to Hermione "You know the laws, Miss Granger. You must not be seen. And you would, I feel, do well to return before this last chime. If not... well, the consequences are really too ghastly to discuss. Three turns should do it, I think. If you succeed, more than one innocent life may be spared tonight."

Dumbledore handed Harry, Elizabeth and Hermione each a stick of chocolate then began to leave when suddenly turned around again.

"By the way, when in doubt, I find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin... Good luck."

The man smiled and exited, leaving everyone but Hermione in a confused state. Elizabeth sat up and stood, wobbly at first, but stabilizing afterward. She walked over to Hermione.

"What the bloody hell was that about?"

"Good, you can walk."

Hermione then pulled out a long necklace from her shirt and looped it around hers, Elizabeth's and Harry's necks, and apologized to Ron for not including him seeing as he couldn't walk. The Slytherin glanced down at Hermione's necklace as she turned it three times. A time turner... Suddenly, time reversed in a dizzying backward blur, as if a tape were being rewound. Every moment that occurred in the hospital room flickered by at a dizzying speed while, outside the window, darkness gave way to dusk and the sun 'un-set' returning to its place low on the horizon. The time reversal then ends abruptly and the room is empty, save for Harry, Liz and Hermione. As Hermione unlooped the necklace, Harry glanced around in confusion.

"What just happened? Where's Ron?" the boy asked

Both Hermione and Elizabeth ignore the question and eye the clock on the wall.

"Seven-thirty... Where were we at seven-thirty?" Hermione asked

"I was in detention... You two must have been going to Hagrid's." Elizabeth tried

"Right! Come on, we can't be seen!"

Hermione grabbed Liz and Harry's arms and slammed through the door. The three students dashed through the corridors making sure to not be seen by anyone. As they came upon the large bridge outside, the children came to a mad huffing halt to catch their breaths.

"Elizabeth, Hermione! Will you two please tell me what it is we're doing!?"

Before Liz can explain, Hermione held up a hand, silencing the boy. Annoyed, Harry followed the girls' gazes and blinked in disbelief. Across the grounds, he saw himself, along with Hermione and Ron, about to confront Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle near the monoliths. He then saw his sister leaving Amir and quickly making her way towards them.

"But that... that's... us. This is not... normal." Harry stuttered

"This is a Time-Turner, Harry." Hermione said, holding up the hourglass pendant around her neck "McGonagall gave it to me first term. This is how I've been getting to my lessons all year."

"You mean, we've gone back in time?"

"Yes. Dumbledore wanted us to return to this moment." Elizabeth said "Clearly something happened he wants us to change..."

A soft smack is heard in the distance. The three students turn to see Malfoy fall to the ground and Elizabeth rush over to him, shouting.

"I don't like it... But that was a nice punch." Liz admitted

"Hurry! Malfoy's coming!" Hermione said and pushed Harry and Elizabeth under the bridge. Seconds later, footsteps clamored above them

"Not a word of this to anyone, understood!" they heard the blond say "I'll get that jumpedup Mudblood one of these days. Mark my words..."

Eyes narrowed in anger, Hermione leaned out, reached up, and sent Malfoy sprawling. As Harry pulled her back, Malfoy looked around in confusion, then dashed off with the others. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at the Gryffindor witch, but didn't say anything. He kind of deserved that for saying the 'M' word. Seconds later, the trio emerged, marveled at the sight of Rose dashing off angrily, and Harry, Ron and Hermione as they sloped down to Hagrid's hut. Elizabeth's gaze shifted to the half-giant's pumpkin patch.

"Look! Your little Buckbeak is still alive."

"Of course! Remember what Dumbledore said?" Hermione smiled "If we succeed, more than one innocent life could be spared!"

"But... how will saving Buckbeak help Sirius?" Harry asked

Both girls shrugged as they made their way down to the pumpkin patch. As Buckbeak feasted on a ferret, Harry, Elizabeth and Hermione ducked behind a pile of pumpkins. Peering into the hut, Harry saw Hermione and Ron embrace awkwardly. He grinned, amused, and turned, only to find Hermione and his sister analyzing the moment with considerable fascination. The boy turned towards the slope and saw Cornelius Fudge approaching with a few others.

"Here they come. I better hurry." Harry states

"No!" Liz stopped him "Doesn't Fudge have to see Buckbeak before we steal him? Otherwise, won't he think Hagrid set him free?"

"Lizzie's right, Harry." Hermione concurred

Harry nodded, then all three looked back toward the hut. Inside, Elizabeth saw Hagrid handing Scabbers to Ron. Immediately, the siblings rose to their feet, keen on destroying that rat.

"Get down, you two!" Hermione spoke fiercely

"Hermione, that's the man who betrayed our mother!" the Slytherin spat "You don't expect us to just sit here-"

"Yes, I do. Harry, you're in Hagrid's hut right now. If you go bursting inside, you'll think you've gone mad... And Liz, you're mad at me right now. Would you really come barging in? Look, awful things can happen when wizards meddle with time... We simply can't be seen."

The three turn and watch Fudge and the other draw nearer. Elizabeth frowned and looked back at the hut. Should't they be leaving? They weren't supposed to be out of their dorm rooms, much less out of the castle at this hour. They'd get caught if they didn't get out... and they did get out. Just then, on the ground beside her, Ella noticed a jagged star-shaped stone. Bingo! Instantly, she grabbed it, rose, and hurled if through the open window. SMASH! The sound of something shattering was heard within the hut.

"So it was you..." Hermione noted, looking at Liz

"You're welcome." she replied cockily

Rose grabbed a second stone and sent it whistling through the air, hitting Harry at the back of the head. Both Harry's winced at the impact of the stone.

"That hurt, by the way." he said

"Sorry, not sorry."

Crows began to drop atop the roof as Fudge's party arrived and rapped on the door. Quickly, the trio dash into the trees behind the pumpkin patch as to not be seen by their past selves, save Liz. A that moment, their past selves - along with Ron, save Elizabeth - exited the back door and slipped behind the pumpkin pile where, only seconds before, they were hiding. As Fudge appeared at the window and picked his nose, Hermione pondered the back of her own head. Harry and Elizabeth quickly silenced her, but she saw herself turn. Ducking, she accidentally stirred the branches, then peeked out and notices herself staring curiously at the branches dancing oddly.

Harry and Hermione watched themselves start up the slope as Elizabeth took in the new information. The coast clear, they slipped out of the trees and vaulted into the patch. The crows began to stir, cawing at their ankles, pecking at their feet. In the distance they could hear Cornelius Fudge reading out the form that dictated Buckbeak's execution. Harry and Liz approached Buckbeak who studied them curiously, a ferret leg dangling from his beak. The siblings bowed, awaiting for the gesture to be returned. The nod returned, Harry took hold of Buckbeak's chain and yanked hard, but the creature refused to move. Harry tugged harder and with his sister's help. No go. Luckily, Hermione arrived and bowed to the creature. When he bowed back, she dangled a few ferrets in front of his face. Elizabeth grabbed one from Hermione and did the same.

"Come on, Beaky... Come and get the nice dead ferrets; yum, yum!" she coaxed

Harry looked at Elizabeth as if she were mad, but smiled when he noticed it was working. As Buckbeak trotted after the ferrets, the cawing crows scattered. The trio lead Buckbeak away and towards the forest just as the front door to Hagrid's hut suddenly opened. Harry, Elizabeth and Hermione froze, fearing they'd be caught. Fudge's eyes drifted their way but Dumbledore raised his hand and directs the man's attention elsewhere. With a thankful sigh, the trio shoo the Hippogriff along and disappeared into the forest just as the Headmaster concluded his reverie. The three students - their view unobstructed by the low stand of trees - watched the executioner approach the pumpkin patch - their view unobstructed by the LOW STAND OF TREES this time - watch the Executioner approach the pumpkin patch... and stop. Quickly, the confusion in his masked eyes turns to anger.

"But... where is it? I just saw the beast not moments ago!" Fudge exclaimed

"Beaky..."

Hearing Hagrid's husky voice, Buckbeack strained at his tether and whimpered eerily. Hermione tossed him another dead ferret to keep him quiet.

"How extraordinary!" Dumbledore said, a hint of amusement in his voice

"Come now, Dumbledore. Someone's obviously released him." Fudge argued

"Professor, I swear! I didn't!" Hagrid defends

"I'm quite sure the Minister isn't suggesting that you had anything to do with it, Hagrid. How could you? You've been with us all along."

"We should search the grounds-"

"Search the skies if you must, Minister." Dumbledore interrupted "In the meantime, I wouldn't say no to a cup of tea, Hagrid. Or... a large brandy." the man then turned to the executioner "It seems your services will no longer be required."

The executioner lifted his blade and - with a brutal fury - plunged it into the flesh of an innocent pumpkin with a sickening chopping sound. Crows scattered into the air as the trio hiding in the forest smiled at each other. One life saved... Another one to go.


	50. BOMBARDA!

Almost moments later, dusk began to fall. Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Elizabeth Granger/Potter/Evans - no one really knows - ran through the tall trees of the dark forest. The copious amounts of trunks spiked into the sky - no sign of life to be found anywhere. It was so dark you were barely able to see where you were going, occasionally making one of the three students trip and fall. There were only small sounds of rustling bushes and the howl of the wind. The trio didn't know what laid in the dark forest, all they knew was that it wasn't going to be a peaceful journey.

The three children came to a sudden halt, needing to catch their breaths. Buckbeak, however, was happily loping behind, following the smell of dead ferret on Liz and Hermione.

"Now, what?" Harry asked

"I guess we save Sirius?" Elizabeth suggested

"Yeah, but how?"

"I don't know..." Hermione replied

The three students started up again, gliding through a thicket of trees and to the forest's edge where the trees were thinning. Moments later, the thrashing Whomping Willow was in their sight. All three of the children duck down behind a few bushes just as they see a figure approaching, their eyes still able to see over them.

"Look. It's Lupin." Hermione said

As the Whomping Willow began to thrash in his presence, its violence oddly muted at this distance, Lupin took a stick and poked a knot on the trunk, just as Aslan had done for Elizabeth. Instantly, the Willow calmed.

"Is that how you got in?" Hermione asked Liz, earning her a nervous nod

"Wait until Fred and George hear about that one." Harry chuckles "You'll be their new hero."

"Lucky me." Elizabeth smiled, but it faltered quickly "Here comes professor Snape."

As Lupin disappeared into the gap at the base of the tree, Snape made his way down the slope as well. The trio then ducked down into the bushes and sighed. Liz threw her last ferret at Buckbeak.

"And now we wait..."

* * *

At the base of the trees that stretched up towards the dark sky, still sat the trio. They had been waiting for at least two hours, and almost no words were spoken. Hermione didn't have much to say, but it was Harry and Elizabeth who were causing the greater part of the silence. Both of them were simply thinking too much, recalling the events of the previous night. A small colony of bats swept trough the forest, an unlucky one got itself snagged by Buckbeak who happily slurped it down.

"At least someone's enjoying himself." Hermione finally said with a small smile

Harry, Liz and Hermione sat together in the lengthening shadows. The Slytherin snapped off a few pieces of chocolate given to her by the Headmaster and hands them to her brother and 'sister'.

"Hermione..." she said in a quiet voice, much unlike herself

"Yes?"

"Before. Down by the lake. When Harry and I were with Sirius... I did see people. Harry did too... I don't know whether it was James Potter or our mother but... they made the Dementors go away..."

"With a Patronus. I heard Snape telling Dumbledore when we were taken to the hospital. According to him, only a really powerful wizard could have conjured it." Hermione replied

"I've made a Patronus before..." Liz admitted quietly

Harry and Elizabeth regarded her in stunned silence.

"I don't know why I didn't tell you... I guess I just was afraid of what it meant..." the girl admitted "But the two people in the forest... They were there, Hermione. I swear!"

"It was my dad and our mum." Harry said confidently "It was them who conjured the Patronus."

"But, Harry, they're..." Hermione cut herself off

"Dead. I know. I'm just telling you what I saw."

Hermione and Elizabeth stayed silent, not wanting to press further. The latter had seen two people in the forest, but she couldn't say for certain who they resembled exactly. All the saw was a ball of light landing near their outstretched hands... nothing more. Ella then glanced beyond the trees, toward the Whomping Willow.

"Here we come."

Shadows emerged under a full moon: Black, Harry, Pettigrew, Lupin, Elizabeth, Hermione, Ron... Sleepwalking Snape. Rose stared at herself talking to her godfather, ignoring whatever Hermione and Harry were talking about beside her. Suddenly, she saw him seize up and herself back away, Sirius' name echoing in the distance. A howl pierced the night, making the two Gryffindors turn toward the Willow.

"No matter what the angle... I don't like watching him transform." Liz said, averting her gaze

"I'm sorry, Lizzie." Hermione said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder

"That means Pettigrew is slipping safely into the night. While we just stand here..." Harry said angrily

Suddenly, fierce growling was heard nearby as twin silhouettes - the dog and the werewolf - bounded into the tall grass. Harry and Liz watched themselves appear from a safe distance. They watched as Harry hurled the stick at the werewolf's head, just as before. The werewolf turned, began to stalk then out of the blue, the same howling was heard. But now they knew it was Hermione who had caused it.

"What are you doing!?" Harry whispered loudly

"Saving your lives." Hermione replied, howling a second time

"That's great, but we have to move. Now." Liz said, her eyes wide in fear

"Why?"

"Because the werewolf is coming this way."

The three students exchanged a glance then darted, running for their lives. Being chased was nothing like in the movies Elizabeth made Hermione watch at home. The stars looked heroic, sexy and in command of the situation. Reality was far from that cutesy version of running to save your skin. The trio had no time to collect themselves or longingly stare at whatever was coming towards them, oh no. They'd been sitting in the woods, waiting and almost sleeping through it. One thing lead to another and now they had a werewolf running after them. The soles of their shoes crashed into the dirt - which was more like mud - causing it to cover them. Their faces were flushed red and their expressions were just of pure panic, not of heroic determination. Harry and Elizabeth played Quidditch, so it kept them fit and spry, but still, like Hermione, their hearts pounded heavily, their breathing was jagged and uneven, and their wounds were beginning to open up again. Especially, Liz's half-healed leg, which was fractured only hours ago.

Harry and Hermione then suddenly got tugged behind an enormous tree by their Slytherin classmate, shielding them from the werewolf. As it approached the tree, the trio silently sidestepped in the opposite direction, until the werewolf disappeared. However, the students went to far around the tree and revealed themselves to the werewolf waiting fifteen feet away. The three of them froze. The creature poised itself, preparing to pounce when, with a large shriek, the trees shook with the fury of a hurricane. Buckbeak suddenly charged into the clearing, screening the three children. The werewolf snarled angrily and made a move to charge, but, with lightning-fast reflexes, Buckbeak's claws slashed the air only inches from the werewolf's face. The creature stopped, it's yellow eyes glittering with rage, and howled. Turning away, it vanished into the forest, Elizabeth's own eyes glittering sadly in its direction.

"Remus isn't having the best night, is he?" she sighed

Just then, a chill wind rose, cutting into their ripped clothing as before. The leaves of the many trees trembled vigorously. Eerie shadows fluttered over the full moon, greasy as smoke. Dementors...

"Let's go." Harry said simply, prying his sister away from her spot

As the trio ran forward, Liz looked around her. Through the trees, wheeling through the sky, Dementors streaked in and out of view. Shocked and terror stricken, Rose looked on into the clearing near the water where she and her brother had been only hours ago. A cyclone of Dementors whirled madly above Harry, Elizabeth and Sirius Black, diving down to suck the happiness out of them all. The Slytherin couldn't watch herself and Harry vainly attempt to conjure a Patronus; she was too terrified. The cyclone continued to grow...

"This is horrible..." Hermione gasped

"Don't worry. My Dad will come... Our mother will come..." Harry said confidently "Right there... you'll see... he'll come... any minute... he'll conjure the Patronus."

Hermione eyed Harry wearily. He was transfixed, staring hungrily toward the outcrop, and waiting for a miracle. The wind rose even more. The lake began to freeze. One after the other, Dementors dropped from the sky and vanished into the cyclone.

"No one's coming, Harry!" Hermione shouted

"They will!" the boy replied

Hermione looked on... Nothing. Desperately, her eyes flashed to the cyclone, then to the pitiful sight of Harry, Elizabeth and Black at the water's edge... wracked with pain... dying... Rose, until then, still wasn't looking. She couldn't look and see herself dying. She mentally cursed her Slytherin nature at being so cowardly. She heard Hermione scream again that no one was coming. Suddenly, the girl swallowed her monstrous fear and looked into the clearing. She could see herself trying so hard to conjure the Patronus she had befo- wait. Without a second thought, without a sliver of doubt, Ella took out her wand and slashed through the trees, Harry following steadfast. They ran down to the rocky outcrop, to the exact spot where the people they saw had appeared. Poising their wands, they glanced and each other and nodded. Elizabeth looked out over the sea of Dementors on the other side of the lake and somehow managed to clear her mind. She thought about Harry being her brother, about Lupin being her godfather... She had a family.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" the siblings shouted as one

A wisp of silvery-blue light escaped each of their wands, hovering like a mist, then bloomed magnificently into a stag and a doe. Without warning, the trees exploded with light and the lake blazed with reflected fire. Harry and Rose stand utterly still, wands extended to the heavens. Across the Black Lake, the Dementors began to retreat. The two students waited patiently, still as statues, until each and every one is gone. Then they both simply let their arms drop, minds and bodies exhausted. Elizabeth then breathed a laugh and turned to her brother, hugging him tightly out of love, anxiety and relief. She pulled back.

"I think I've hugged more people today than the entire previous year."

* * *

Matte charcoal black uncontrollably covered in thousands and millions of bright specks. That was the only way to describe the Scottish night sky. It was star, after star, after star, a never ending void of light. Below, the blacked out mountains around the lake could only just be seen, their roughness and texture now one clean flat shape, dissolving down into the clouded waters of the Black Lake. Not a sound was heard until - WHOOSH! Harry, Elizabeth and Hermione plunged astride Buckbeak, soaring toward the castle, the boy steering the Hippogriff rather well. Outside the grounds, the Dementors waited restlessly. Elizabeth and Hermione peered down towards the castle. Up ahead, they saw Cornelius Fudge and Severus Snape enter the Dark Tower, torches in hand.

"You were right, Hermione." Harry shouted over the loud rush of wind "It wasn't my dad or our mum I saw earlier. It was... us. I saw us conjuring the Patronus before. I knew I could do it this time, because... because I'd already done it. Does that make sense?"

"No, it doesn't, Harry. I was just fed up with seeing myself die." Liz interjected "Is that better?" Hermione

"Yes." Hermione said, then looked down in fear "But I still don't like this!"

Elizabeth let out a loud howl of excitement and raised her hands into the air. Quidditch, or simply being up in the air, was something she'd always loved, no matter what her Slytherin fears dictated. A few moments later, Buckbeak landed safely on the top of the Dark Tower. The three children disembarked and ran towards the to Sirius who was pacing in a small cell, a man condemned. Feeling as if someone were watching, the man looked up, stunned to see the trio running dashing towards him. Hermione pushed through Harry and Liz and raised her wand, casting Alohomora on the locked iron door. But it failed. Wand flashing, Hermione tried spell after spell.

"Dunamis! Liberare! Annahilare! Emancipare!" she shouted "No... No, no, no."

"You might want to-"

"Be quiet! I'm trying to think!"

Angered about being interrupted, Elizabeth moved a muttering Hermione out of the way and pointed her wand at the door.

"Stand back!" she yelled at Black, who obeyed "Bombarda!"

With a large booming sound, the iron cell door blasted off the hinges and flew several feet into the air, scattering bits of stone and iron around the tower.

"That'll do." Black chuckled, clapping a hand on Liz's shoulder

The four wizards climb atop Buckbeak, and soar off terrace just as Snape and Fudge reached the top of the tower. Flying through the air, free at last, Sirius laughs happily, hair blowing in the wind. A few minutes later, Harry's landed Buckbeak in the courtyard and disembarked at the same time as Sirius, who aided Liz and Hermione in getting off the Hipoogriff.

"I'll be forever grateful for this. To all three of you." Black said with a huge grin

"I want to go with you." Harry pleaded

"One day perhaps. For some time, life will be too... unpredictable. Besides, you're meant to be here."

Black clapped the boy's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"But promise me something, Harry, and you as well, Elizabeth."

"Anything." the siblings chorused

"Trust yourself." he said simply "No matter the challenges you face - and I fear they will be many - you'll be surprised how many times you can find the answers..." he tapped his heart "...in here."

As Sirius climbed back atop Buckbeak, a shooting star arced through the heavens. Rose recognized it as the shooting star that went past the window in the Hospital Wing. Black then gives Buckbeak a gentle slap and they soared into the glittering sky. Hermione, Elizabeth and Harry stood watching, until - DING! The clock tower began to ring. The three students sprinted again, ignoring their exhaustion and pain, and ran up a multitude of stairs. As the last chime rang, they arrived in the Hospital Wing corridor, just as Dumbledore began backing out of the room.

"By the way, when in doubt, I always find retracing my steps to be a wise place to begin... Good luck."

As Dumbledore began to close the door, Harry, Liz and Hermione stumbled frantically forward, the door about to hit the jamb, when suddenly, Dumbledore stopped and looked up.

"Well?" he asked

"He's free - Sirius." Harry panted

"We... we did it." Ella added

"Did what?"

With a twinkle in his eye, Dumbledore swung open the door. As the three students entered, they caught the faintest glimpse of themselves across the room just as they evaporated. Ron, still in bed, blinked and frowned.

"How'd you two get over there? I was just talking to you... over there." he asked, utterly confused

"Ronald, how could we possibly be in two places at once?" Elizabeth replied seriously

Ron stared at them dumbfounded, and slowly, Hermione, Rose and Harry turned towards each other, grinning from ear to ear.


	51. Nervous Much?

The next morning was going great. Madam Pomfrey kept pampering the students and giving them potions so they could heal themselves properly, unsure as to how their injuries had gotten worse during the night. After about an hour, all four students were fixed up and ready to begin roaming freely around the castle again. Students in the corridors gave the quartet either sympathetic, fascinated or judgmental looks as they passed, for being out after curfew and for battling a werewolf and Sirius Black - whom to their knowledge, was still a murderer. Teachers nodded at the students, aware of their defiance and accomplishment at not dying.

Upon entering the Great Hall, the quartet noticed that quite a few students had already left for Hogsmeade station. A few Gryffindors ran up to see Harry, Ron and Hermione, to ask them if they were okay and if they felt the need to tell them what happened. Elizabeth smiled but sighed, as she did not expect the same reaction from her housemates. She was out after curfew again which probably lost her quite a few house points, her family consisted of a famous Gryffindor and werewolf - something she was sure everyone knew by now - and, to make matters worse, she had a new scar on her face for everyone to tease her about. However, she wasn't expecting what actually happened. Nothing really happened, actually. However, she stop in her tracks as a blur rushed over to her, tackling her in a bone crushing embrace.

"You are walking! That is fantastic!" she recognized Amir's accent "Now, go pack your things."

"Already done."

"Good, let us take our leave, then."

"Since when are we in a rush?" the girl chuckled, giving her friend a confused look

"Malfoy is searching for you... He doesn't seem in the cheeriest of moods."

"I don't blame him..." Liz mumbled, recalling the events in the Dungeons last night

"What was that?" the Egyptian questioned

"Nothing. Talking to myself, agai-"

"Liz!" Harry interrupted, running up to his sister

"Merlin, Harry! What's the matter?" she replied

"Lupin... He's leaving..."

Elizabeth didn't even question the veracity of his statement. She simply pried herself out of Amir's grip and ran off alongside her brother. Dashing down the corridors of the castle, her robes billowed madly behind her. She had to grab the ends and hold them in her hands so she didn't trip over them. The siblings tried to avoid smacking into any other students or professors by swaying sideways or jerking their bodies to the side. Ella was even running too fast to notice her "favourite" blond coming up ahead of her. She did notice he was there, however, when he grabbed her wrist and twirled her around to face him.

"Eliza-"

"No time... Lupin... talk later." was all she managed to breathe out before she sprinted off again, leaving the blond gazing after her

Upon reaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, the two students stopped running and caught their breaths before calmly walking towards the open door to Lupin's office. They peered inside; Lupin was packing his trunk, filling it with the last of his books while he used non-verbal magic to put all his robes in another suitcase.

"Hello, Elizabeth, Harry." the man said without turning

The siblings jumped, not expecting him to notice they were there. Lupin turned towards them, smiling through haggard1 eyes.

"Saw you coming." Lupin admitted, fleetingly glancing at the Marauder's Map that stood on an otherwise bare desk

Harry nodded, then looked back at the professor. He and Elizabeth weren't able to not notice how Liz's godfather looked, and her expression saddened immediately.

"I've been worse, believe me." Lupin said with a small smile

"That doesn't really help, Remus." the Slytherin breathed, looking around at the bare shelves "Please tell me Dumbledore didn't sack you."

"No... I resigned, actually."

"Resigned!?" Harry gasped "But why?"

"It seems that someone has let slip the nature of my condition."

Elizabeth swallowed hard. She knew who had done that, but she didn't want to accept it. Unfortunately, Harry wasn't ashamed of talking badly about said person.

"Snape." he said simply

"Whoever... It was bound to get out. This time tomorrow, the owls with start arriving; parents will not want a-" Remus glanced shamefully at his goddaughter "- someone like me - teaching their children."

"That's bullshit if you ask me." Liz huffed, visibly angry

"But Dumbledore-"

"Has already risked enough on my behalf." Lupin interrupted Harry "Besides, people like me... well, let's just say I'm used to it by now..."

Both children smiled sadly at their professor.

"Elizabeth I assume you want to take the train... home?"

Home... She liked the sound of that.

"If it's all right, yes. I've got lots of people to lie to about last night's events." Rose chuckled

"Very well, but before I go... Tell me about your Patrons."

"Well, at first I thought it was a horse, or a unicorn... but I think it was a stag?" Harry tried

"Your father used to transform into one. That's how he was able to keep me company when I became... sick. He was a great friend James." the man smiled wanly, then turned to Elizabeth "And yours?"

"Still a doe."

"Just like your mother... There are stories about her and James, you know... and other people. Some are even true. But I think it's safe to say, in the end, you'll know them best by getting to know yourself."

Lupin then - with a wicked twinkle in his eye - raised his wand and muttered Mischief Managed. Harry watched the Map go blank as Lupin told Liz that he'd be waiting for her at King's Cross Station. When the boy looked back, the professor was gone.

The siblings went back through the corridors again, this time at a much slower pace. There wasn't much small talk as Harry and Elizabeth were both content in their silence. The girl spotted Amir at the end of the hall and hugged her brother, telling to save her a spot in a compartment. Rose then jogged towards her fellow Slytherin.

"Where where you?" Amir asked

"Talking to my godfather." Liz replied simply

"Are the rumors true? That he's a werewolf, I mean."

"So what? Doesn't change who he is, does it?"

"Spoken like a wis-"

"Ferran." a commanding voice interrupted

"Malfoy." Amir said, his face suddenly going rigid

"I'm borrowing Ella."

"You cannot jus-"

"Ramses, I'll be fine." Elizabeth chuckled "If he does anything, I'll just hex him."

With a nod from Amir, Draco dragged Ellie through the corridor and into an empty classroom. She was definitely nervous now. What speech required the lack of Crabbe and Goyle, as well as an empty classroom? Nothing good is what she thought. However, she didn't get any yelling like she'd expected. Instead, the young Malfoy began pacing the room, running his fingers through his loose white-blond locks. Rose had never - ever - seen the boy this nervous before. He always appeared to be that cocky, arrogant toerag that her friends loathed so much. I reminded her of herself in a way. Suddenly, he stopped and stared at his fellow Slytherin, pale grey eyes twinkling with many different emotions. She huffed, then began pacing again, seemingly unable to say what he wanted to say.

"Are you ever going to speak, or am I just going to have to leave again?" Liz said, her annoyed tone betraying the anxiety she felt

"Again with the sarcasm..." the boy said dangerously slow

"It's what I do, Draco. Especially, when my friend looks like he's about to blow up."

There was a moment of silence.

"You could have died, you know?"

"What did you say?" Ella questioned, moving to face him

"It was a stupid move you did, going out there." the boy corrected himself

"That's not what you said..."

"Then why are you asking me if you already know!?" Malfoy growled angrily

"'Cause I never thought I'd see the day, Draco Malfoy cared about someone other than himself!" Elizabeth shouted back

"Who said I cared?"

"You did, you twit. Last night... just before I left."

"Yeah, and you said it didn't matter..." Draco glared

Rose felt a pang in her chest. He was right. She had said that. Obviously Ellie didn't mean it, but she was in a state of panic since she knew something bad was about to happen. However, Draco didn't know that. Who knew the arrogant toerag had feelings?

"Sorry..." the girl mumbled

"What was that? Did Elizabeth Potter just apologize?" the blond teased

"Get over it."

"Oh, no... Miss hardass has little soft side doesn't she?"

"Draco Malfoy, I do not have a soft side. Now, shut it before I hex you."

The boy rose his hands up in surrender, his lips turned into a side smirk. Elizabeth let out a large sigh and rolled her eyes before beginning her exit. Draco followed suit.

"I am glad you're okay, though. Just so you know." he said, glaring at those who stared at him too long

"I'm glad I'm okay, too." Rose smiled mischievously

"Really!? And people say I'm an arrogant bastard."

Just before Liz reached Amir and waved goodbye to Draco, it seemed the boy wasn't done talking yet as he spun her back around.

"Hey, uh... do you think it would be okay if I... well, if I wrote to you this summer?" he asked, fiddling with his sleeves

"Of course, stupid. Why wouldn't it be?" the girl chuckled

"I don't know... Maybe you've got a no-letter policy at home or, your owl is sick and dying, or-"

"Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Shutting up."

Elizabeth smiled and laughed at the Slytherin's attitude. Never had he been nervous like this around her, much less anyone else. But something was up with that boy, she just didn't know what. And as if the past two days hadn't been odd enough, Liz found herself hugging Draco goodbye before walking away, ebony hair swaying mid-back.

* * *

1: Haggard: looking exhausted and unwell, especially from fatigue, worry, or suffering.


	52. The Burrow

For once in her life, Elizabeth had a quiet summer. Hermione would be proud, yet terrified that her 'sister' wasn't dancing around the house in her pyjamas, screaming songs at the top of her lungs. But for some reason, the Slytherin didn't feel the urge or need to "get her weird on", as Ron would say. Liz was perfectly content with playing her guitar, singing quietly and talking with her godfather. She hadn't been this peaceful in quite some time. Maybe it was the fact that Remus' house was in the middle of nowhere, hidden amongst the trees. Maybe it was because she finally had someone to look out for her should she ever get into trouble - something which was bound to happen eventually.

During the summer vacation the girl not only learned to play a few new songs on the guitar - such as Crazy by Aerosmith and Mary Jane's Last Dance by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - but she also learned to brew a new potion. It was quite complicated, and the ingredients were pricey, but she had money and it was necessary. She learned from Remus that her favourite professor, Severus Snape, had brewed the Wolfsbane potion for him during his stay at Hogwarts and decided to do the same. It was the least Ellie could do after his generous offer of letting her stay with him. So she practised, and practised, and practised until she finally got it right.

As promised, Draco wrote to her all summer long. And so did Amir. Ironically, the two owls, when arriving at the same time, seemed to know who they were and began screeching at each other whenever a letter was delivered. Draco's eagle owl seemed to win most confrontations, however. It was as if the owls hated each other just as their owners did. Eventually, she got a letter given to her by a large grey owl which resembled a molting feather duster. Well... Delivered might not be the word to use... He smashed into the window of her new bedroom, instead; she new it was Errol, the Weasley's owl. Which other bird was clumsy enough to smash into windows? Elizabeth happily withdrew the letter from the bird's leg and dismissed Remus who thought an intruder had entered, saying it was "only Ron's stupid bird." It was addressed to Remus however, so Liz ran back over to the man.

"Remus, it's for you!" she panted, reaching him

"Then why'd you shoo me away?" he joked, taking the letter

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and watched as her godfather's green eyes scanned the letter. A small smile wove its way onto his lips.

"What's it say?" Liz asked, trying to peek over the edge of the parchment

"Apparently, Arthur Weasley has scored prime tickets to the Quidditch World Cup Final. The whole family is requesting your presence." Lupin read

"Is Harry going to be there?"

"Well, if the Dursleys allow it, he should be. Oh, and they're offering to let you stay for the rest of the summer as well."

"Can I go!? Please, Remus? Please!" the girl pleaded, elongating the 'e'

The man pondered for a moment, mocking a pensive face. Elizabeth simply stood there, bouncing on her toes, begging like dog would for its food. With a small sigh and smile, Remus nodded, making the girl squeal happily and hug her godfather. She then rushed to her small room and began packing. Aslan came in through the window and wound his way around the girl's leg, purring.

"There you are!" Liz smiled, then noticed her feline's mouth "Feathers? Seriously, you could be more subtle about your hunting, boy."

The cat meowed and rubbed his face on the Slytherin's pant leg, before running off to the living room, leaving some feathers and a sticky substance behind.

"Aslan, where did all that sass come from!?"

"You understand he doesn't know what you're saying, right?" Lupin asked from the doorway

"Tell that to the one who wiped bird guts on my pants!"

* * *

An old man lit a gas oven with a match, in a dark room. Looking up, he noticed a light on in the large house opposite to his. He stopped what he was doing and walked to the door, muttering about "damn kids". The man grabbed his coat and exited the house, heading towards the light. Torch in hand, he opened the front door to the large house. It was tall and dark, seemingly haunted. Inside was just as dark as outside. He then began climbing the stairs, as he heard whispers and hushed voices coming form upstairs. The old man crept across the corridor and waited outside the room where the conversation was taking place, and pressed an ear to the door, listening.

"Oh, no, no, no my Lord Voldemort." a squeaky voice denied "I only meant... perhaps if we were to do it without the twins-"

"NO!" a quiet raspy voice shouted "They are everything, it cannot be done without them and it will be done exactly as I say."

"I will not disappoint you my lord." another voice claimed

"Good. First, gather our old comrades." the scratchy voice continued "Send them a sign."

Suddenly, a large green snake, which was as thick as a man's thigh, slithered past the old man and into the room. It wound its way to the top of a large armchair as the whole house went more silent than before.

"Nagini tells me the old caretaker is standing outside the door." the quiet, hoarse voice spoke

A few seconds later, a short plump man with watery eyes opened the door and stood in the doorway. A devilish smile works its way onto his rat-like features. The old man froze in place, terrified.

"Step aside so I can give our guest a... proper greeting." the same voice called

The short man stepped aside just as a loud spell was cast and... Elizabeth's eyes snapped open in a flash of terror. She jumped up from her sleeping position faster than cat in water, every sense urging her to claw her way to standing. Ella's breath seemed to stutter in her lungs before she exhaled, feeling the tension drain from her body. That was the most vivid dream she'd ever experienced, and the first time she had it. It was the same one. Loud blasts of green and red... a voice yelling and screaming... then crying; all in a giant bright blur. This time it was much darker, more sinister...

Elizabeth couldn't hide that she was shaken by her nightmare, but dismissed any problems when Remus asked her about it. He let it go, still weary. After breakfast, she gathered her things and her feline companion. Then into the fireplace she went, throwing a handful of Floo Powder to the ground and shouted "The Burrow" as the letter instructed. Soon, she found herself landing on her backside, clothes covered in soot. Aslan ran off God knows where, stunned about the trip. The girl stood and, almost immediately, was tackled in a hug, not able to fully take in the wonders of The Burrow.

"You must be Elizabeth! Oh, I've heard so much about you from Harry!" a plump redheaded woman exclaimed happily "I'm Molly Weasley, and please, do call me Molly- Oh, dear me! Let me get all this soot off of you."

With a wave of her wand, Elizabeth's clothes were cleaner than they'd ever been. The woman smiled and called out to Hermione who was in the next room. Within a few seconds, the young Gryffindor was by her side smiling widely at her 'sister'.

"I see you've found out how to tame that mane of yours." Ellie chuckled, admiring her 'sister's' hair

"Yes, well, it was about time." Hermione smiled in return "And you... You've changed!"

"Not much. I just got taller."

"What are talking about!? Your hair is more black than ever, if that's even possible."

"I don't think it is... Are you sure you're not hallucinating?" Liz laughed

"Very funny, Lizzie." Hermione sighed, rolling her eyes "But-"

"ELLIE!"

"Uh oh..."

For the second time in less than twenty minutes, she was tackled in a hug. This time, it was Fred and George Weasley who had the honour of crushing the young Slytherin. Ginny walked in the room then back out when she saw the scene, opting to avoid the weirdness of her brothers. After a few moments of battling against the twins, Ella broke free and was able to breathe properly.

"You got tall!" Fred said "But you're still short."

"Thanks. I really appreciate the compliment." Rose said sarcastically

" _Wicked_! Your eyes got super dark!" George continued

"I told you!" Hermione smiled "Your eyes aren't as bright as Harry's anymore."

"I didn't notice... What colour are they, then?"

" _SLYTHERIN GREEN_!"

"Be quiet you two!" Mrs. Weasley told the twins "Hermione, Elizabeth, can you go wake up Harry and Ron? Breakfast is almost ready."

"Gone!" Elizabeth shouted and began to run off, but stopped "Wait... Where am I going?"

Hermione, Fred and George all laughed at her before the former showed her the way up. They didn't run up like Elizabeth had wanted, but this meant she could admire the home in all of its splendor. When she gazed too long at something, Hermione would explain a few things. Well, she'd explain no matter what.

The interior of the Burrow was cosy and lived in, with a jumbled and cluttered array of furniture and trappings. According to Hermione, the kitchen of the Burrow was the social centre of the Weasley family. Located at the back of the house, it was accessible from the garden and featured a large wooden table with room enough for ten chairs. The fireplace in which Ella came through was also in the kitchen, as well as a weird clock with one hand that pointed to a member of the Weasley family, the other to different times, such as "You're late" or "Time to feed the chickens."

The two girls then went through the living room, spotting Aslan and Crookshanks lazying around on one of the large armchairs. This room featured yet another fireplace and another clock. However this one, rather than telling time, indicated the status of each member of the family - home, school, work, travelling, lost, hospital, prison and mortal peril. Apparently, Mrs. Weasley had a habit of checking the clock very often.

Up the crooked and angled staircase the two girls went, Hermione telling her which room belonged to whom. The first floor bedroom was reserved for Ginny. Elizabeth would probably be staying in there with Ginny and Hermione for the remainder of the summer. The red-haired girl poked her head out of her bedroom and said "hello", allowing Liz to notice that the walls were lined with posters of The Weird Sisters and the Holyhead Harpies captain, Gwenog Jones.

If you heard explosions coming from the second floor bedroom it was completely normal, as it was Fred and George's bedroom. Hermione said it often smelled like gunpowder and dung bombs in there, which was why she accelerated her pace when they walked past. Elizabeth however walked past rapidly because across from the twins' bedroom, was Percy's. They didn't like each other very much... Although she was glad to hear from her 'sister' that Percy was constantly being bombarded with things from Fred and George's room.

The quietest floor of the house was, well, quiet because it contained Bill and Charlie's room - who were barely ever there - and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room. Lastly, the fifth and final floor was for Ron's room, which was just under the musty old attic - the Weasley family Ghoul lived up there, and apparently banged pipes when he thought things were too quiet in the house. Hermione and Elizabeth quietly opened the door and entered the small room. The walls were riddled with posters of the Chudley Cannons - a very bad Quidditch team - and were painted a bright orange colour, much to Elizabeth's dismay. But her attention was soon drawn away from the awful walls and to her brother who jumped awake, panting. Rose sat on the edge of his bed. She noticed he needed a haircut.

"Harry? Are you all right?"

"Elizabeth..." he breathed, panicked "Bad dream; it's nothing... When did you get here? Both of you?"

"Just now." Liz said

"About an hour ago." Hermione added "You?"

"Last night."

Hermione then went over to Ron's bed and shook him awake, pulling the blankets off him. That made Ron say his classic "bloody hell" and shove his face deeper into his pillow.

"Honestly, Ronald?" Hermione sighed angrily "Get dressed. And don't you dare go back to sleep; your mother says breakfast is ready."

"Five more minutes..." Ron groaned

"Nope!" Liz shouted and began jumping on the ginger's bed, making Hermione and Harry laugh

"Okay, I'm up! I'm up!" the Weasley shouted, tumbling off the side of his bed

This was going to be great.


	53. The Quidditch World Cup

The morning wasn't gray, but a soothing lavender and brilliant amber. The colors merged into neon pink and peach. The grass was still dewy, and the birds were still asleep. The sky was covered in clouds, and the air was foggy as the Weasleys - save Molly -, Hermione, Elizabeth and Harry made their way across the grassland near the Burrow. Arthur and Ginny were walking up ahead, chatting quietly. Fred and George were just behind then, talking about something they didn't want anyone hearing about. And the usual quartet was sticking together, wondering where exactly they were going.

"Where are we actually going?" Harry asked no one in particular

"Don't know." Ron replied whit a shrug "Hey Dad! Where are we going?"

"Haven't the foggiest, keep up!" the man called from the front

The four children exchanged a quizzical look before Elizabeth shrugged and continued on. After a few more minutes of walking, backpacks beginning to weigh down on them, the large group of people came upon a hill where a duo of men were waiting. The older man was tall, had a ruddy face and scrubby brown beard. His oval glasses were the same brass color as Harry's. The younger boy, Elizabeth recognized immediately as Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff's golden boy. He was rather tall and - according to most girls at school including Liz - was very handsome with his dark hair and bright grey eyes. Not as nice as Draco's, Ella thought for a fleeting moment before dismissing the remark from her mind.

"Arthur! It's about time son." the older man said with a smile

"Sorry Amos. Some of us had a bit of a sleepy start." Mr. Weasley said, looking over at Ron and Harry "This is Amos Diggory everyone, he works with me at the ministry. And this strapping young lad must be Cedric, am I right?"

"Yes sir." Cedric said, shaking Arthur's hand

"Merlin's beard, you must be Harry and Elizabeth Potter." Mr. Diggory gasped, making Harry instantly nervous. Elizabeth appreciated the attention more than her brother

"Yes sir." she said confidently, extending her hand

"Great, great pleasure." the man replied, shaking the girl's hand strongly

"Pleasure to meet you too sir."

Rose glanced sideways at Cedric who sent her a small smile. Before she could smile back, Fred and George pulled her away and lead her up the small hill Arthur and Amos were climbing; they didn't want her getting "infected" with "pretty boy Diggory germs". On top of a hill stood a single boot that had definitely seen better days.

"Why are they all standing around that manky old boot?" Harry asked

"That isn't just any manky old boot, mate." Fred replied

"It's a portkey." George continued

By that time, everyone save Harry had their hand on the old boot. Amos and Arthur were speaking loudly about everything and nothing. Fred and George were glaring at Cedric, who was having a decent conversation with Elizabeth. Ginny and Hermione were giggling about no one knows what, and Ron was simply standing there looking awkward, waiting for Harry.

"What's a 'portkey'?" he asked

"After three." Amos said "One... Two..."

"Harry!" Elizabeth yelled

Harry snapped out of whatever daze he was in, an rushed over toward the boot and placed his hand on it just before Mr. Diggory shouted "three". With a white flash, Elizabeth felt as if she were being pulled by a hook somewhere behind the navel. Suddenly, they were all flying through the air, cheering. Cheering until Arthur told them to let go.

"Let go kids!"

"What!?" Hermione shouted, instantly nervous

"Let go!" Mr. Weasley repeated

Harry, Hermione and the young Weasleys let go of the boot and crash to the ground with a thump. Elizabeth thought that her brother would have been able to brace himself and land properly since he was Seeker on a Quidditch team, but he didn't. She did however, alongside Arthur, Amos and Cedric, who came down more gracefully.

"I bet that cleared your sinuses eh?" Arthur said as Cedric helped Harry up

"How'd you not land properly, Harry?" Liz laughed

"How did you land properly, Liz?" the boy replied with a chuckle

"Fair enough."

The whole gang walked across the field they had landed on and began to notice more and more people walking around. Eventually, the group came upon a massive crowd of cheering witches and wizards that had gathered for the game. Thousands of tents had been set up on the camping ground, and most of them looked perfectly ordinary to the few Muggles who camped here as well; their owners had clearly tried to make them as Muggle-like as possible. Some, however, had slipped up by adding chimneys, bellpulls or weather vanes to their tents.

"Well kids, welcome to the Quidditch World Cup!" Arthur announced

Elizabeth, Harry, Ron and Hermione walked into the crowd, taking in the sights. Different kinds of music was playing from different tents, banner and streamers hung from every single tent, representing both teams. Ireland supporters hung up shamrocks that exploded with green glitter every time someone walked by, and Bulgaria supporters had set up hundreds of moving posters of Viktor Krum, the star of the team. Children were flying around on miniature brooms and playing games like exploding snap in between tents, and adults visited other tents by flying overhead with their brooms, a banner of their favourite team trailing behind them. Witches and wizards were cooking different kinds of food with and without magic, different scents filling the air and making Elizabeth's mouth water. After going through the hustle and bustle of the camp ground, the group came upon a small tent, able to fit no more than three people.

"Parting of the waves I think old chap, see you at the match." Amos said as he and Cedric separated from the group and walked away

"See you later, Cedric." Elizabeth smiled. The boy waved back

"Home, sweet home." Arthur sighed happily

One by one, every one entered the tent and was met with a wondrous sight. On the outside, the tent seemed to be able to fit only two or three people. On the inside however, thanks to an undetectable extension charm, it was quite large. It contained a small kitchen, fully equipped with a two burner propane stove, a few shabby armchairs, a table big enough for all of them, and multiple bunks for everyone to sleep in. It was wonderful despite the strong smell of cats. Ron immediately went to the kitchen, the twins sat at the table and propped their feet up, Ginny, Hermione and Elizabeth went over to snag the top bunks, and Harry simply stood there in awe.

"Girls, get the best bunks!" Arthur said happily, walking across the tent "Ron, get out of the kitchen, we're all hungry."

"Yeah, get out of the kitchen, Ron!" Fred and George chorused

"Feet of the table." Mr. Weasley said, and the twins obeyed

"Feet of the table." they echoed, and put their feet back up just as Arthur passed

Elizabeth, Ginny and Hermione looked at each other and smiled, the three of them extremely excited.

"I love magic."

* * *

A task force of 500 witches and wizards spent months preparing for the 422nd Quidditch World Cup, including finding the perfect spot and building the giant Quidditch Trillenium Stadium that was capable of holding one-hundred thousand people at once. Many Muggle-repelling charms were placed upon it, such as causing the Muggles to suddenly remember urgent appointments when they got too close to the site.

The morning after they'd arrived, Elizabeth got up early; it was one of those rare occasions where she did in fact wake early. She dressed in clothes that proved her support for Ireland, and went over to Ginny who was putting face paint on herself and the twins. With different game paint designs on everyone, the lot of them filed out of the tent and made their way up towards the grand Quidditch stadium, and through the scarlet draped walls towards their seats. Rose kept looking in awe towards the field where a few players were doing laps around the stadium. But group's good mood soon faltered, save Liz's of course, who was able to ignore... certain things.

"Blimey, Dad. How far up are we?" Ron complained

"Well put it this way, if it rains... you'll be the first to know." a voice sneered from the row below

It was stupid Lucius Malfoy who spoke, an all too familiar sneer on his face. However, Ella was used to seeing said sneer on a face she much preferred. Last term, Draco was already taller than Elizabeth, however he had quite some height over the summer; he was almost a head taller than her now. His hair still remained free of gel and was as blond as ever. Ella was reminded of her remark about Cedric's eyes when she looked at Draco; it was true that the blond's eyes were much more appealing to her despite that they were practically the same colour. That simple thought made the girl's cheeks flush pink.

"Hey, Draco." Elizabeth smiled

"Hello, Elizabeth." Draco said curtly. He would have been friendlier had he not been under his father's glare "Father and I are in the minister's box, by personal invitation of Cornelius Fudge himself."

"Don't boast Draco. There's no need with these people. Do enjoy yourself won't you... While you can."

Draco and Elizabeth stood there staring at each other until Hermione pulled the latter away, and up to their seats. There was something about the blond, this year, that piqued Rose's interest. Not that she'd ever say it out loud, for fear that her friends and her brother would take it the wrong way.

Soon, the celebration began as thousands of colourful balloons floated down into the stadium, and multiple different coloured fireworks went off. The first one nearly scared Ginny out of her seat, and she almost toppled over when Fred rose from his seat.

"It's the Irish!" he shouted with a smile

Five green and white figures had begun flying through the air on their brooms leaving a colored trail behind them. Above them, a giant glittering leprechaun appeared in the sky and started dancing, throwing golden galleons into the crowd. Elizabeth, Ron, Harry and the twins began dancing along with it.

"Here come the Bulgarians!" George shouted as the colours in the crowd began to shift

Five red figures this time, flew around the stadium. One of them performed a particularly daring stunt on his broom; Elizabeth knew this since her team captain once asked her to try it. Said player then appeared on the jumbo screen just as the crowd began to chant: "Krum! Krum! Krum!" The Weasley boys were a part of this. Hermione, Elizabeth and Ginny however simply rolled their eyes.

"He's so overrated." they all confirmed

"Hey, Fred! I made the bet!" George said

"What bet?" Ellie asked

"George and I bet Ludo Bagman that Ireland would win, but Krum would catch the snitch; don't tell Dad." Fred whispered and winked

"Bunch of gits..."

"Good evening!" the announcer said "It gives me great pleasure to welcome each and every one of you to the final of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup. Let the match begin!"

* * *

Surprisingly, Fred and George had been right about the match. Ireland had won and Viktor Krum had caught the snitch. As of this moment, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and the twins were all chanting happily because of their team's win. Ron however, wasn't chanting happily. He was in more of a trance because of Krum. Obviously, this made Fred and George mumble about him in a comical way, muttering "Krum" in sensual voices.

"There's no one like Krum." Ron said quite seriously "He's like a bird the way he rides the wind. He's more than an athlete, he's an artist."

"Think you're in love, Ron?" Ginny laughed, wiping the makeup off of Elizabeth's face

"Viktor I love you! Viktor I do!" the twins sang, making Liz and Harry join in "When we're apart my heart beats only for youuu!"

"Shove off." Ron sighed, throwing one of the twins a pillow

Suddenly, loud firework sounds came from outside, edging the twins to be more annoying and festive as one of them stood and turned on music. Soon, everyone was dancing and singing Fred and George's song to mock Ron. Then more firework sounds, this time louder shook the night.

"Sounds like the Irish have really gotten their pride on!" Elizabeth laughed, but stopped when Arthur Weasley came inside the tent, a terror stricken look on his face

"Stop! Stop it! It's not the Irish!" he shouted, and everyone went silent "We've got to get out of here. Now!"


	54. Morsmordre

Bedlam, entropy, mobocracy, ataxia. All synonyms of the chaos happening on the campsite grounds of the 422nd Quidditch World Cup. The field that had known peace for generations, now knew the sadness and anger of war. The thousands of terrified Quidditch fans - men, women and children alike - rushed away from the campsite as they screamed about Death Eaters. Everyone's faces were livid with fear as their nightmares became reality. Red, blue, silver, purple and green flashes of magical light burst out of the ends of wands, hitting anything they could. Tents and toys were set on fire, witches and wizards were either stunned, wounded or dead, and bomb-like explosions ravaged the grounds sending dry earth into the air. Thick black smoke rose into the air, blocking the little light coming from the moon and suffocated the people who were gasping for breath.

Elizabeth had lost her brother and the others in the chaos long ago. The more brutal the explosions got, the calmer she had to be in order to defend herself. Her feet pounded the ground with all the grace of a sack of wet concrete, her breath came in small spurts and her rasping throat was as parched as a dead lizard in the desert sun. At Liz's sides, pale and slender fingers curled into sweaty fists, wand held tightly in her right hand. Behind her, she could hear the explosions and ominous chanting of the hooded people.

"Please, let me live." Ella whispered to herself, throwing her body forward with even greater determination

Her lungs and heart were pumping, but the air didn't seem to be enough as she sprinted forward, panic trembling in her exhausted limbs. She managed to turn and cast spells towards a few enemies, some causing them to have their legs glued together, be stunned or get slashed by an invisible knife; she didn't care what spell she used as long as they were delayed. Turning back around she failed to slow down, and got knocked over by a man running for his life. Ellie tried to get up, but the people frantically running any which way kept knocking her back down, until she felt two arms grasp her tightly and drag her away. The girl screamed and kicked, pointing her wand behind her hoping that she was aiming correctly.

"Don't point that bloody thing at me, Ella!"

"Draco!" Elizabeth gasped, ceasing her struggling

"The one and only, now shut up and run!" the blond said, grabbing his friend's hand and dragging her away

The two Slytherin students ran hand in hand for what seemed like forever, using their free hands to cast spells at hooded maniacs who were trying to burn everything to the ground. Elizabeth soon remembered about the portkey and insisted they go towards it and be transported back to Ottery St. Catchpole, a safe distance away from where they were now. Draco gladly obliged, hoping to get out this war zone just as much as Liz.

About halfway there, to the friends' relief and confusion, everything ceased. Explosions, fires, screaming, you name it; it was gone. Both Malfoy and Evans1 stopped behind a tree to catch their breaths and hide from anyone remaining, just in case it was another hooded psychopath. Suddenly, however, Elizabeth heard something clang quite near them. Draco pulled Elizabeth against him, trying to prevent her from satisfying her curiosity and running off. Her face flushed crimson at the proximity, but she ignored it and tried to get a look at what was happening. Another crashing sound came from her left, making both fourteen year olds peek around the large tree trunk. What they both saw seemed to startle Liz more than Draco, but she couldn't see that because her back was pressed against the boy's chest. A tall slender man was walking through the debris and smoke, kicking things as he went past. Suddenly, he came to a halt and pointed his wand to the sky.

"Morsmordre!" he shouted

A bright green jet of light burst from the man's wand, and to Elizabeth's horror, the green light took the shape of His mark; You-Know-Who's mark. For some reason, Rose's lip began to burn as she stared at the sky. A colossal skull comprised of what looked like glittering emerald stars, with a snake winding its way in and around it floated menacingly in the sky, signaling death. Wide eyed and terrified, Ella tried to get a look at the man's face, but to no avail; it was too dark outside to see anything. With a quiet hiss, the man moved forward seemingly towards her and Draco, but she quickly realized he was heading towards a smaller figure running away through the debris. And just before Elizabeth could run over to help, the man ran off after hearing a voice calling out.

"Harry!? Elizabeth!?"

She'd recognize that voice anywhere... Hermione. Ellie made a break for it but was held back by Draco, whose grip only tightened around her waist. She looked at him, face flushed out of exhaustion, embarrassment and anger. It was a good thing the boy could barely see her in the darkness.

"You don't want to get caught under that thing." Draco whispered in her ear

Breath caught in her throat, the girl simply nodded and looked back at what was happening beneath the Dark Mark. Three figures - whom she assumed were Harry, Ron and Hermione - were standing there, probably talking. However, their conversation was cut short when about a dozen ministry workers surrounded them, wands shooting blasts of red light. One of them moved forward, yelling at the rest, telling them to stop. She recognized Arthur Weasley's voice. It seemed as though they were arguing, and so Elizabeth wriggled out of Draco's grip and headed towards the group of people.

"Ella!" Draco whispered angrily

The girl stopped and sighed, then turned around. She jogged back over to the blond and squeezed her arms around Draco's middle, her cheek firmly pressed against his chest. Once again, most unlike her, she was hugging him again. It took a few moments for the boy to register what was happening, but he loosely wrapped his arms around Ella eventually.

"Thank you." she said just above a whisper

Before the young Malfoy could reply however, the raven-haired girl had dashed off towards the commotion, leaving him staring after her once more.

Elizabeth quickly reached the scene of the crime and was met with many exclamations and groans as she violently pushed her way through the crowd of Ministry officials.

"Hey, you can't be here!" one of them shouted

"Elizabeth!" Harry, Ron and Hermione gasped with relief upon being tackled in a hug

"You can't be here, little girl. This is a crime scene!" the same man bellowed

"Crime scene?" Harry questioned, holding his sister's hand

"Barty, they're just kids." Arthur tried to reason

"What crime?"

"Harry... it's his mark." Hermione said quietly

"Those people tonight, in the masks... they're his too aren't they?" the glasses-clad boy questioned "They're Voldemort's followers."

"Death Eaters, Harry." Liz mumbled, wincing at the name

The man who had shouted before, now known as Barty Crouch, head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, grunted in response and called for everyone to follow him in the opposite direction of where Ella had seen the man perform Morsmordre.

"Wait!" she called causing Crouch to pause and turn to her "There was a man before... Over there."

"All of you, this way." Mr. Crouch said sending a curt nod to Liz

"Did you see his face, Harry? You were closer than I was."

"It was too dark." the boy sighed "I couldn't see his face."

* * *

Upon returning to the Burrow, Elizabeth impressed herself with writing a letter to Remus saying that she was all right and no one had gotten hurt; no one he cared about anyway. The next morning the Daily Prophet came in recalling the events of the previous night. A large moving image of the Dark Mark was printed on the front page, causing Ella's lip to burn once more. In a side column, she read that two people were pronounced dead and hundreds were declared injured severely. She threw the newspaper away, momentarily thinking what would have happened if it had been Hermione, Ron or Harry... or Amir... even Draco. Liz thought best to ignore those feelings, as each of them were safe, and go into the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley had prepared an extra large dinner.

Everything was tense with the quartet after the incident. Ron was still trying to figure out where Elizabeth had been the whole time, since he thought it obvious she was lying. And for once he was right; Liz had lied and said that she'd passed out somewhere in a small grouping of trees. She thought Draco would appreciate not being depicted as the kind of guy who'd risk his life to save a girl, especially one related to Harry Potter. Hermione was concerned about both Harry and her 'sister', since the Death Eaters - and, most likely, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - were alive and kicking. Whether they told each other or not, the siblings were worried about each other immensely, and for the exact same reason too. Harry's scar had begun to act up again, thus concerning Elizabeth. Harry was anxious about Liz's lip scar - the one she had always had - because she'd never played at it so much than now. It seemed to him that she may have the same problem he did; a cruel souvenir of the night James and Lily Potter died, a cruel souvenir of an unsuccessful Avada Kedavra.

* * *

Elizabeth boarded the train for her fourth term, looking as different as she'd ever had. For once she was wearing makeup, but it was mostly to hide the bruises she'd got at the Quidditch World Cup. However she did find that the little mascara and eyeliner she wore made her eyes pop. Maybe she'd consider continuing its use. Her hair was smooth and dead straight, as black as it had ever been. Her green eyes were now twice as dark as her brother's, but they still stood out form her raven locks. Despite Harry having grown quite a bit, she was still a fair few inches taller, but they were still equally as thin. What really changed was how much she talked. Usually, you could hear Ella laugh and squeal happily from across the Great Hall, but the events she witnessed only a few weeks ago were still fresh in her mind and dreams. Rose was in no mood to be joking around.

A low rumbling sound was interrupted by small clangs as the Hogwarts Express made its way to Scotland. Ellie had taken the opportunity to find Amir and talk to him, but he was immersed in another one of his storytelling moments that everyone loved so much. She decided it was best not to disturb him and talk to him once at the Slytherin table for the start of term feast. Instead, she sat in the same compartment as Hermione, Harry and Ronald. As Liz twirled her mystery necklace between her fingers, the trolley lady came to their compartment door.

"Anything off the trolley, dears?" she said sweetly

"A packet of drewballs and a licorice wand." Ron said, but corrected himself when he noticed he didn't have enough money "On second thought, just the drewballs."

"It's all right, I'll get it." Harry offered

"Just the drewballs, thanks."

"I'll have a cauldron cake and two licorice wands." Rose said handing the woman the required amount of money

As Elizabeth went to turn around, Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw, came up to the trolley and asked for two pumpkin pasties. She smiled at Harry who dreamily smiled back. The Slytherin rolled her eyes and glared at Chang, making her shift uncomfortably and walk away. Cho Chang was one of the students who thought she and Harry were responsible for the Muggle-Born attacks in their second year. There was no way she was going to start liking her.

"Anything sweet for you, dear?" the woman asked Harry

"No thanks..." he said staring after Cho "I'm not hungry."

The siblings went to sit back down, exactly when Hermione decided to start speaking. Elizabeth threw Ron one of her licorice wands. He gladly accepted it, shoving a drewball into his mouth.

"This is horrible, how can the ministry not know who conjured it. Isn't there any security or...?"

"Loads according to Dad." Ron noted "I guess that's what's worrying them."

"It happened right under their bloody noses..." Elizabeth growled, playing at her lip since it was burning again

"Liz, are you all right?" Harry asked

"Yeah, peachy... My lip just wont stop burning for some damn reason."

"Harry's scar is starting to hurt again... Maybe it's the same thing?" Hermione tried to reason

"I'm fine, Hermione."

"Besides, my scar has never hurt before whereas Harry's starts burning whenever there's trouble." Ella sighed

"Maybe something bad's gonna happen again, this year." Ron said, biting into the licorice wand the Slytherin had given him

"Whatever it is, I think both Sirius and Remus will want to hear about this."

"Do you realise how much you just sounded like Malfoy, Hermione?"

* * *

1: She'll be referred to as Elizabeth Rose Evans until further notice


	55. The Triwizard Tournament

_Dear Remus,_

 _As you know, the events of the Quidditch World Cup have indeed startled me. But nevermind that._

 _Hermione has pressed that I speak to you about something else; something that's never happened to me before._

 _I lied when I said I had passed out near where Harry was found. In fact, I was rescued by Draco Malfoy. Now I know that you - or everyone - may not like him, but I do. Besides, I owe him my life now. Anyway, while Draco and I were staring at the Dark Mark, the scar on my lip began to hurt. Now, I know for a fact that Harry's scar does the same thing, but I'm not sure if I have the same problem as him. I mean, it's never hurt until now. A numb burning sensation is constantly there, but it flares when I stare at His mark._

 _Also, the morning of the match - before I traveled to the Burrow - I woke up from a nightmare. I know that you were concerned, but I wasn't... until now. Harry had the exact same dream as me and I'm worried it means something. The jist of it is that some old man wandered into an abandoned house and eavesdropped on a conversation between Wormtail, a man I didn't recognize and... You-Know-Who? But I didn't see his face because a bright green spell was cast at the man and I woke up. I swear it was him though... that voice..._

 _Harry is writing a letter to Sirius about the same thing as I'm writing mine. Hermione is quite forceful when she wants to be. Hopefully you two answer soon; I don't think I'll be able to shake off this nagging feeling that something bad is going to happen again this year. Especially if my lip scar is turning into Harry's forehead scar._

 _Reply as fast as you can,_

 _Yours truly,_

 _Elizabeth R. Evans_

* * *

The letters were written within ten minutes of Hermione telling the siblings to do it, and sent to their destinations by Hedwig who flew out the compartment's window. The remainder of the trip was spent in silence, save the constant chewing sounds coming from Ron and Liz who were eating their sweets. After about an hour however, Liz decided to change out of her clothes and into her Slytherin robes.

She excused herself from her seat, setting Aslan down beside her; he automatically curled back up into a ball. Ella grabbed her leather book back, which contained a multitude of things including her robes and slid out the compartment door, heading toward the small changing cubicles provided in the Hogwarts Express. Changed and hair put back into a messy bun, the girl exited the cubicle and turned down the hall only to bump into a familiar face.

"Sorry, wasn't looking where I was going."

"You all right, Ella?" Draco asked, concern surprisingly etched onto his features

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm good - great." Lizzie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose

"What happened to your lip?"

"What are you talking about?"

Elizabeth turned to an empty compartment and stared at her reflection in the glass pane. To her surprise and horror, her lip scar no longer resembled a simple white line like the one going across her face. Why Hermione, Harry and Ron had not mentioned that it was now red, looking like it was no more than a few hours old, was beyond her. Thankfully Draco had caught her; she wouldn't have to wonder why she was getting more stares than usual.

"What the fuck?" Ellie whispered, then stormed back to her compartment "You didn't think it was important to tell me that my lip scar is now the same colour as Harry's?"

"Lizzie-"

"Don't 'Lizzie' me, Hermione. You're the one who said it was really important. Was it not important to mention that it looks like its brand new?"

"You should have told her." the blond Slytherin said in contempt. Ella didn't even argue about his tone

"Shut it, Malfoy." Ron glared

"Leave Draco out of this." Elizabeth glared back "Actually you know what? You'll be without my presence for the rest of the trip; I saw an empty compartment that was calling my name - come on, Aslan."

The feline uncurled himself and hopped of the seat, padding down the hall and into the empty compartment Elizabeth had observed her face in. With a furious huff, the Slytherin witch turned on her heels and stormed down the hall, not bothering to apologize to the mob of first years she rammed into. She violently slid the compartment door open and let herself drop onto the seat. Aslan curled up beside her. Elizabeth propped her elbow up against the window's sill and stared at the moving trees, trying to calm down. Draco soon joined her and calmly closed the compartment door, quite in contrast to his friend's violent opening. He quietly sat down opposite to Ella and mimicked her position, looking out the window as well. The rest of the train ride was spent in comfortable silence. Hermione, Harry and Ron never came to see her.

* * *

Draco and Elizabeth exited the train together, much to Pansy Parkinson's dismay; she was still part of Draco Malfoy's ever-growing fan club. It didn't bother him one bit, but for some reason it bothered Rose that Pansy was always trying to get him to ask her on a date or something of the sort. But Liz dismissed those feelings as futile and continued to ignore Pansy as she clung to Draco's arm calling him the usual 'Drakey' or 'Drakeypoo'.

Suddenly, a loud whooshing sound startled Elizabeth. She turned just in time to see seven flying horses coming her way and for the young Malfoy to pull her out of the way, saving her life for the second time in mere weeks. Ellie mumbled a quiet thank you again and carefully pried Draco's arms off of her, seeing as Pansy was perfectly aware of the blush staining her pale cheeks. The blond awkwardly cleared his throat and looked on at what was coming towards them. The seven large Pegasus were pulling an enormous baby blue carriage with golden detailing and were rapidly coming in for a landing. Hagrid was about twenty feet away, trying to get all of the students out of the way.

"Well, that's something you don't see everyday." Elizabeth chuckled

"Well, that's something you don't see everyday." Pansy mimicked in a girly voice

"Shut up, Pansy." Draco defended

Rose smirked at Pansy who glared, but they were both interrupted when a low rumbling sound came from their left as they continued walking towards the castle. Coming out of the Black Lake - and surely disrupting the Giant Squid - was an enormous ship complete with grand white sails. If the students could have ogled longer they would have, but the start of term feast wasn't about to wait for them so they made their way into the Great Hall.

Draco dragged Elizabeth along with him, so they sat beside each other. The girl tried to spot Amir, but she couldn't and gave up immediately when Ron, Hermione and Harry caught her eye. She turned away and looked up at the Headmaster who was announcing the sorting ceremony. After the hat sung his song and sorted the new first years, all the students became quiet as Dumbledore rose once more and began talking.

"Now we're all settled in and sorted, I'd like to make an announcement." he said "This castle will not only be your home this year but home to some very special guests as well. You see Hogwarts has been chosen-"

Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall burst open and in came the Caretaker, Argus Filch, running in a very comical manner. It took all of Elizabeth's willpower not to laugh at the man, and her sides began to hurt from withholding it.

"Merlin, he looks retarded." she whispered to Draco

"Don't have to tell me twice." he chuckled

From the other side of the room, Ron and Harry - who were sitting on the same side of the table - stared at the two Slytherins with pure loathing directed at Draco. How could their Elizabeth choose him over them?

Filch soon got up to the staff table and whispered something in Dumbledore's ear before running back the way he came from, allowing for Liz to calm down and the Headmaster to resume his speech.

"So, as I was saying, Hogwarts has been chosen to host a legendary event: The Triwizard tournament." all of the students began whispering amongst themselves.

"Brilliant." Draco and Ella exchanged an excited look

"Now for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests. From each school a single contestant is selected to compete. Now let me be clear, if choosen you stand alone. And trust me when I say these contests are not for the faint-hearted... But more of that later." Dumbledore said mysteriously "For now please join me in welcoming the lovely ladies of the Beauxbatons Academy of magic and their headmistress Madam Maxime."

A group of girls dressed in pale blue dresses and hats burst through the door and danced up the aisle, making oddly sensual sighs at either side of the tables. You could tell that they were almost, if not all, part-Veela since almost every single guy in the Great Hall was eyeing them and their backsides quite obviously. Ella rolled her eyes and huffed, crossing her arms as they made it to the front and released blue and pink butterflies into the air, their giant Headmistress following behind. They all bowed and everyone applauded; especially the guys who cat-called a few of them. Rose was happy to see that Draco looked slightly uncomfortable. She didn't know why she was happy though.

"Blimey, that's one big woman." the young Malfoy noted, his eyebrows raised

"Tell me about it..." Liz replied

"And now our friends from the north..." Dumbledore continued "Please greet the proud sons of Durmstrang and the High Master, Igor Karkaroff."

A series of older boys then marched up the aisle brandishing bo-staffs, twirling them around and periodically stabbing them into the ground with a spark effect. Ella's eyebrows raised immediately, impressed by their technique and by the fact that a few of these boys were quite attractive. She snapped out of it however, thinking that there were more attractive boys right here at Hogwarts. Her cheeks turned pink at the thought of someone in particular. A few of the Durmstrang boys winked in the girls' direction before performing backflips up the aisle or breathing fire. However, Elizabeth was most surprised to learn that the world's best seeker, Viktor Krum, was closely following the High Master, Igor Karkaroff; she didn't think he'd still be in school.

The ladies from Beauxbatons Academy seated at the Ravenclaw table and the Durmstrang boys seated with the Slytherins, a few of the Hogwarts staff brought forth a large object in the shape of a multitude of stacked boxes. Elizabeth was too busy trying to get a good look at it to notice that Draco and Viktor Krum were in a deep conversation about her. A tap on the shoulder brought her out of her daze, however.

"What's so important?" she sighed, looking over at her friend

"Ella - Viktor Krum. Viktor Krum - Ella." Draco said simply

"Oh, uh, hi. Pleasure to meet you." the girl smiled sheepishly, politely shaking Krum's hand. She could see - out of the corner of her eye - Ron's face turning a furious shade of red

"Please, ze pleasure is all mine." Krum said in his thick Romanian accent, kissing Liz's hand

For once in their lives, Draco and Ron were one in the same. Both of their faces had turned a furious shade of red and were determined to separate Elizabeth Evans and Viktor Krum. But their murderous thoughts were soon interrupted by Dumbledore who still wasn't done his damn speech. At least this, to Weasley and Malfoy's relief, caught Rose and Krum's attention.

"Your attention please! I would like to say a few words." the Headmaster continued "Eternal glory... That is what awaits the student who wins the Twizard tournament. But to do this, that student must survive three tasks. Three extremely dangerous tasks."

"Wicked." Evans breathed quietly

"For this reason the ministry has seen fit to impose a new rule. To explain all this we have the head of the department of international magic cooperation Mister Bartemius Crouch-"

Suddenly, as if on cue, thunder roared from the enchanted ceiling. Rain began leaking through the roof and screams broke out. A strange man with a metal leg, one dark and one electric blue eye, and a chunk missing out of his nose, stood in the doorway behind the staff table. He cast a non-verbal spell and sealed the roof. Peace was restored... but not completely.

"Bloody hell, that's Alastor Moody..." Elizabeth gasped

"Mad-Eye Moody, the Auror?" Draco asked

"He was a catcher, once. Retired now." the girl continued, almost everyone around her now listening intently "He's part of a long line of really successful Aurors, and half the cells in Azkaban are full thanks to him. That's how he lost his eye, his leg and part of his nose... He's supposed to be mad as a hatter though these days. Always on about 'constant vigilance'."

Mad-Eye then took a few steps forward and examined the room, his gaze lingering on Harry and his sister. The girl shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The young Malfoy moved forward, blocking Moody's line of sight. Ella smiled gratefully at him. Mad-Eye then took a swig of something.

"What do you suppose he's drinking?" Draco asked

"I don't know, but I bet you it isn't pumpkin juice." Elizabeth replied

"After much deliberation..." Mr. Crouch suddenly began "the ministry has concluded that for their own safety, no student under the age of seventeen shall be allowed to put forth their name for the Triwizard tournament. This decision is final."

The entire Hall was rapidly filled with booing from each and every table. Ellie even heard Fred (or George) say that the Ministry had no idea what they were doing. She was even surprised to see that ever-law-abiding Hermione looked furious about the decision, yelling about it being 'complete rubbish'. Ella had to agree; she wasn't old enough in the Ministry's eyes yet, but she definitely wanted to prove that she was capable of completing three stupid tasks.

"Silence!" Dumbledore shouted, then cast a non-verbal spell over the large box which melded into a goblet containing a blue flame "The Goblet of Fire... Anyone wishing to submit themselves for the tournament merely write their name upon a piece of parchment and throw it in the flame before this hour on Thursday night. Do not do so lightly... If chosen there's no turning back. And now, from this moment, the Triwizard tournament has begun."


	56. Avada Kedavra

It was now Thursday afternoon of Elizabeth's fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Chalk screeching on a blackboard was the first thing Elizabeth heard upon entering her first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the new term. Their new professor, Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, was writing his name across the board in an untidy scrawl, chalk breaking off every few letters. Amir and Elizabeth made their way towards the front of the class and sat down beside each other, eager to witness Moody's teaching capabilities. A few moments later, the class was graced with the presence of Harry, Hermione and Ron, who sat at the opposite end of the classroom. Draco - who finally had a class at the same time as Ella and Ferran - sat on Elizabeth's other side, Crabbe and Goyle following closely behind. Liz mentally thanked the person who made the timetables for not putting Parkinson in her DADA class.

With one last unpleasant scratching sound, Mad-Eye finished writing on the blackboard and violently turned towards the classroom, expecting immediate silence. The fact that his one electric blue and magical eye seemed to be studying everyone's every move might have contributed to the now present nervous stillness.

"Alastor Moody." the man said gruff and sharp "Ministry malcontent, and your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I'm here because Dumbledore asked me, end of story, goodbye, the end. Any questions?"

Amir and Rose shared a look. This was going to be an interesting yet... informative class. Having a real-life Auror teaching what he did and saw in the field would be great, even if the man was off putting and probably insane.

"When it comes to the dark arts, I believe in a practical approach. But first, which of you can tell me how many unforgivable curses there are?"

Two whooshing sounds, one after the other, were heard in the noiseless classroom. As usual, Hermione Granger was the first to raise her hand because she had to prove she was so damn smart. And just because her Gryffindor classmate raised her hand, Ella had to do the same and prove that she was better than her. The Slytherin saw Draco sigh a smile; he was laughing at her and Granger's childishness.

"Evans." Moody pointed, not even glancing at Hermione

"Three, sir." Ellie answered

"And they are so named..."

"Because they're unforgivable. Using any of them will land you a one way ticket to Azkaban."

"Correct; five points to Slytherin."

Amir and Rose fist-bumped.

"Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" Mad-Eye said with his back to the class "You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared - you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk Mr Finnegan!"

"Aw no way, the old codger can see out the back of his head." Seamus whispered

Moody grabbed a piece of chalk and threw it behind him, hitting the Irish wizard square in the chest. The boy instantly quieted. A few Slytherins, including ELizabeth, chuckled quietly.

"So, which curse shall we see first?" the Auror said turning around quickly "Weasley!"

"M-Me?" Ron squeaked

"Are there any other Weasleys, you half-wit?" Rose sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose

"Evans." Moody warned. Draco chuckled, earning him a an annoyed smile "Well, Weasley?"

"Well, my dad did tell me about one... The Imperius curse."

"Ah yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite a bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why..."

The Auror went over to his desk and fetched a near-empty jar. He opened it and out crawled a large brown spider, making Ron let out a tiny terrified squeal. The professor put it on his desk and cast a non-verbal spell on it that made it float around the classroom so everyone could see it. A few of them moved out of the way when the spider came near.

"Don't worry. Completely harmless." Moody said, the class unsettled "But if she bites... she's lethal."

Draco let out breathy laugh. Elizabeth would that been insulted had he not seemed more fascinated - just as she was - than amused. Unfortunately for the young Malfoy, Mad-Eye sent the poisonous spider onto his face. Immediately, the smile was wiped clean off and panic struck his features. This however, Rose did not find amusing - that thing was deadly for God's sake! Before she or anyone else could protest, Moody took the creature away, letting it float in front of him.

"Talented isn't she? What shall I have her do next?" the Auror asked "Jump out the window?" he moved the spider towards the open window "Drown herself?"

The arachnid was now twitching over a bucket of water, trying to resist the spell, but to no avail. All it could do was flail pointlessly in mid-air. The suffocating silence only got worse as more and more people realised that the spider was in fact under the Imperius curse. Curious looks on the students' faces were soon replaced by perturbed ones, and uneasy shifts in their seats. Their professor was using an unforgivable curse in the presence of children?

"Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only did You-Know-Who's bidding under the influence of the Imperius curse... But here's the rub: how do we sort out the liars?" Mad-Eye continued "Another, another... Come on come on. Longbottom is it? Up."

Nervously, Neville stood up from his seat. You could tell that the boy was terrified, seeing the look on his face. Elizabeth thought it had something to do with the fact that his parents were currently confined to St-Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries due to a nasty Cruciatus curse performed by Death Eaters.

"There's the uh... Cruciatus curse." Longbottom said meekly

"Correct! Correct! Come to the front. Particularly nasty, the torture curse." Moody said, as if he were unaware that Neville was practically about to burst into tears

The Auror let the spider down on Elizabeth, Amir and Draco's desk, and demanded that everyone try to get a good look. Rose's hands immediately went to her lap. Suddenly, as Moody pointed his wand, the arachnid began to twitch and convulse violently. Neville was fighting back tears while Amir simply looked away. Draco and Elizabeth, however, were frozen, condemned to stare mutely at the screeching creature.

"Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering them, stop it!" Hermione suddenly yelled

Mad-Eye stopped immediately, seeing the students disturbed. The professor the picked up the spider which, to everyone's horror, was still making the same pained sound. He stared at Hermione.

"Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse, Miss Granger." Mad-Eye asked, earning him a shake of the head

His gaze went around the room. His electric blue eye going in a different direction than his dark one. It caught sight of Ella who was mutely staring at the squirming spider. Her expression was vacant, void of any form of emotion. But her eyes... Her eyes shone with an intrigue, a curiosity in the abhorrent actions unfolding before her.

"Miss Evans? The last curse, if you would."

"The killing curse." the girl said simply, all eyes immediately on her

"It's incantation?"

There was a short pause where Elizabeth's breath caught in her throat.

"Avada Kedavra."

And at the same time Ellie whispered the foulest words to ever be heard by human ears, Alastor Moody cast the spell on the spider and made her feel like it was her fault that it was now lying there inert. She gulped and stared wide-eyed at the spider, Draco's hand doing nothing whatsoever to comfort her as it rested on her own.

"The killing curse... Only two people are known to have survived it. And they're sitting in this room."

* * *

Elizabeth felt just as hopeless, empty and dead as the spider for the rest of the day. When the bell rang, it took her a while to get up and pack her stuff, actions delayed because of panic. Amir went ahead to save her a spot at the table for dinner, and Draco stayed behind, purposely taking his time as to keep an eye on the witch. Exiting the classroom, she didn't even realise she was walking in front of Harry, Hermione and Ron, who were avidly speaking about their new professor. Rose simply stopped a few feet ahead and stood next to Neville, staring out the window as he was. It was raining. Seemed fitting.

"Brilliant isn't he! Completely demented of course, but brilliant!" Ron exclaimed "Terrifying to be in the same room with him. I mean, he's really been there you know."

"There's a reason those curses are unforgivable, and to perform them in a classroom..." Hermione said, appalled by the Auror's actions "I mean did you see Neville's face? Oh, and Lizzie..."

The trio stopped upon seeing the two individuals just staring at the window. They failed to notice their least favourite Slytherin lurking around. Moody came out of the classroom and took Neville to his office, hopefully to apologize for his actions, leaving Elizabeth to stare at the dismal day.

"Liz?" Harry said quietly, approaching his sister. She jumped when he put a hand on her shoulder "Are you all right?"

The raven haired Slytherin turned around, revealing her tear stained cheeks and wide moss green eyes. Ella shook her head, her breath shaky. She took a step forward and dropped her forehead on her brother's shoulder, letting him hug her.

"He didn't- He didn't have to..." Ellie whispered, voice strained

"He didn't have to what?" Harry asked

"He didn't have to kill it right when I said the words..."

"Elizabeth, it wasn't your fault." Ron spoke, finally saying something nice about her

The girl tore herself away from her brother and wiped the fresh tears from her face. Her eyes were reddened, but she looked somewhat better than before, having let out some of her anxiety.

"I know, and it was just a stupid spider... I'll live. Thanks for worrying though, Ron."

"I think it's the first time you've ever called me Ron." the ginger noticed

"Yeah, well don't get used to it." the Slytherin chuckled

Elizabeth felt as if Harry, Hermione and Ron didn't have to apologize for not telling her about her scar; they'd made up for it just now by proving their concern. It wasn't as if they were going to apologize anyway, so she let it go.

The quartet made their way towards the Great Hall and separated to be seated at their respective tables. Rose sat beside her Egyptian friend, who made her feel better by pretending nothing ever happened. Amir knew she'd hate it if people started questioning or pitying her after what Mad-Eye had done. Unfortunately, word spread like wildfire at Hogwarts before Liz knew it, everyone in the Hall knew of the events that unfolded. Parkinson, Zabini and a few others took the opportunity to laugh at her, call her weak, call her names. Amir looked furious, as he always did when someone made fun of his friends, but he wasn't the kind of person to act upon his anger. Rose glanced over at Malfoy who looked almost just as cross as Amir, seemingly trying to hide it; he had an image to keep up. Ella however, wasn't going to have any of it.

After she rose rapidly from her seat, Elizabeth made a large downward slashing movement, angrily muttering Flipendo Tria. Immediately, a large blue flash soared out of her wand with a loud hiss. The spell sent almost all the food and plates off of the Slytherin table, and quite a few students out of their seats and onto the ground. Furious, Rose stormed out of the Great Hall and headed to the empty Slytherin common room, ignoring her Head of House's protests; it was probably the first time he was truly mad at her. Arriving in the dungeons, she grabbed her guitar and flopped onto one of the big black couches in front of the fireplace. She didn't care about her singing or guitar playing at the moment. She was going to play and she was going to sing1 whether there were people around or not.

When you were here before

Couldn't look you in the eyes

You look like an angel

Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather

In a beautiful world

I wish I was special

You're so very special

But I'm a creep, I'm a weirdo

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here

I don't care if it hurts

I want have control

I want a perfect body

I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice

When I'm not around

You're so very special

I wish I was special

Oh, she's running away

Oh, she's running

Oh, she's running

Oh, she's running

Whatever makes you happy,

Whatever you want,

You're so very special,

I wish I was special...

Playing the last few chords, Ella let out a heaved sigh. Why couldn't people just leave her alone? It wasn't like she had a damn target on her back. Well, being one half of the "Chosen One's" just might be that target she was thinking of. Didn't people know what she was going through? If they did, they probably didn't care. It wasn't like "The Chosen One" and her "chosen" brother could have problems, right?

Just as she stood, her Head of House entered the common room, looking more bitter than usual. The girl groaned and put her guitar on the loveseat, then turned towards the potions master. Rose was ready for whatever detention was coming her way.

"Detention, right?"

"Did you have a reason for your actions?" Snape asked simply, eyes fixated upon his student

"Of course, I did! I don't jinx an entire group of people just for kicks!" Elizabeth said angrily

"Then I don't see it fit to give you detention. However, I would like to know why you did jinx an entire group of students."

Ella should have been more surprised that Snape didn't give her detention, but after all she was his favourite student. However, she was proccupied with the fact that she'd have to admit to her Head of House that she was being bullied. The image of herself being weak and an easy target wasn't something she liked or wanted many people to know. Ellie was in Slytherin for her pride, and this wouldn't do.

"I assume it had something to do with the events in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class, earlier." Snape said, breaking the girl's silence

"Yes, sir." Liz sighed looking straight at Severus, trying to seem indifferent

"Who?"

"Mostly Zabini and Parkinson, sir."

"I'll have a word with them." the professor said, turning on his heels

"No!" Ellie panted "I mean... You don't have to. I'm quite all right."

Snape turned around and raised a quizzical eyebrow.

"I don't think anyone in the Dinner Hall would agree with you, miss Evans."

"Yeah, probably not."

* * *

1: I'm aware these aren't the exact lyrics.


	57. The Champions

Since last Thursday, Elizabeth was the new basket case of the school. First years would walk the other direction or scurry away when they saw her coming their way, and students who already didn't much care for her now had a perfect excuse to stay away as to not be her next victim. Of course, Amir and the trio found it absurd that everyone was scared of her. Rose found her self torn between two opinions. The first being the obvious hurt and isolation it was causing her but, her Slytherin side found it quite hilarious. Almost every single time someone would avoid her she'd either laugh, sigh sadly or curse loudly.

It was now after dinner on the Tuesday before the reveal of the Champions, and multiple people from different schools had put their names in the blue flamed goblet. It was placed in the Entrance Hall alonside a whole bunch of benches so people could sit around and observe all the people who were willing to sacrifice themselves for eternal glory. Currently, Harry, Ella, Ron and Hermione were sitting there, killing time before curfew. Hermione smiled and clapped alongside a few students when Cedric Diggory placed his name in the cup. Elizabeth and the boys rolled their eyes; she'd rather be putting her name it than watching others do it.

"Eternal glory. It'd be brilliant wouldn't it?" Ron said "In three years from now we'll be old enough to be choosen."

"Who knows if they'll even have a Triwizard tournament then." Ellie sighed, staring at the blue flames

"Yeah, well, better you two than me." Harry grumbled

Suddenly, Fred and George Weasley came up to the Goblet of Fire, edging the small crowd to cheer along with them. They turned to the famous Hogwarts Golden Quartet.

"Thank you, thank you." George said "Well kids, we've done it."

"Cooked it up this morning, without Ellie's help." Fred added

"It's not going to work." the Slytherin said

"Because you didn't make it? I didn't your ego was that big, Princess." one of the twins said

The "Slytherin Princess" scoffed.

"You see this?" Hermione piped up, pointing at a cloudy line around the Goblet "This is an age line. Dumbledore drew it himself."

"So?" the other twin said

"So, a genius like Dumbledore couldn't possibly be fooled by something pathetically dimwitted such as an age potion." Liz said snidely

"That's why it's so brilliant!" Ron laughed

The twins downed their potions and on the count of three, jumped over the age line and cheered. They put their names in the flames and dramatically high-fived each other. Suddenly, the flames shot up violently. Fred and George get flung across the room onto the floor. When they got up, it took everyone's willpower not to laugh; they had full heads of grey hair and beards.

"You said-" Fred and George told each other

They then began to roll around on the floor and begin fighting. The crowd burst into laughter and cheer, including the Quartet. However, the room suddenly became silent as Viktor Krum walked in and put his name in the twitching blue flames. He looked over at Hermione, who smiled quite shyly. When he had exited, Ella immediately sent a knowing smirk towards her 'sister', who punched her shoulder and rolled her eyes dismissively. Harry and Ron couldn't have looked more confused, right then and there.

* * *

Thursday had finally rolled around, and it was time for the Champions to be chosen. The Slytherins sat on one side of the Entrance Hall, The Gryffindors on the opposite, and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were mixed in just about everywhere. Elizabeth was sitting in between Amir and Draco, as usual, facing her trio of friends on the adverse of the Hall. Parkinson and Zabini were seated behind them, annoying Rose about the DADA incident amongst other things, and annoying the two boys in the process as well. The girl just ignored them and watched on as Dumbledore came up to the Goblet.

"Settle down please." he said softly "And now the moment you've all been waiting for, the champions selection! The Durmstang champion will be..."

Suddenly, the Goblet coughed up a burnt piece of dark parchment. Dumbledore grabbed it and carefully unrolled it, Igor Karkaroff - Durmstrang's headmaster - watching quite closely, hoping it his star student, Viktor Krum. To Karkaroff's relief, Dumbledore calls out Krum's name. The boy rose from his seat and was lead to another room, where the champions were to be briefed. After a few seconds, the Goblet sputtered again and another piece of parchement flew out. Madame Maxime was proud that Fleur Delacour was the Beauxbatons champion. She too was lead to the extra room where Krum was now waiting. Finally, the Hogwarts champion was to be chosen. The blue flames shot up for a third time and another piece of scorched parchement floated out.

"The Hogwarts champion will be... Cedric Diggory!" Dumbledore called with a small smile as Cedric was cheered into the next room "Excellent! we now have our three champions! But in the end only one will go down in history. Only one will hoist this chalice of champions, this vessel of victory the Triwizard cup!"

Dumbledore went to enter the next room and speak with the champions, but to everyone's surprise the blue flames of the Goblet burned red once again, another piece of parchment hovering out. Elizabeth leaned forward in her seat. Everything seemed to make her nervous these days. Call it intuition or a just a bad feeling, Liz knew this wasn't good. But her eyes went wide and she gasped quietly as Dumbledore called her brother's name, confused. She looked over to him, panic in her eyes; Harry wore the same expression. Hermione inched him forward, telling Harry to get get it over with. Nervously, the boy went forward and joined Dumbledore. However, the goblet wasn't finished. Dread filled Elizabeth. She knew... She just knew. If her brother was called...

"Elizabeth Evans!"

She couldn't breath, it felt as if someone was choking her. Her heart was racing and all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and wait for someone to save her. But no one would, they were all just staring. They couldn't believe their ears. Elizabeth was doubting her ears, her eyes, her everything. She was happy to be able to compete, but there was no way she would be capable fo putting her name in the goblet. The girl now wished she'd never wanted to get involved; nothing good could come of this.

Slowly and painfully, the Slytherin rose and walked over to the Headmaster, who calmly lead her and her brother to the next room. The looks that the two other headmasters were giving the twins didn't help either. Dumbledore immediately grabbed Harry by the arms and asked if he'd put his name in or demanded someone do it for him. Seeing, Rose's face, Snape - who had entered the room only seconds ago since one of his Slytherins was chosen - took the girl aside and calmly sat her down.

Ella never even had a nightmare this bad. But that was only because her brain always woke her up before such a horrific image covered her mind. And now she was living something her mind wouldn't ever be able to erase; someone had made sure her name was put inside the Goblet of Fire. The adrenaline flew over through her veins like a carp through the river, but she couldn't move a single muscle, not even to scream. The absolute horror completely paralyzed her, and the more people asked questions or yelled in anyone's direction, the more she felt discouraged and utterly terrified.

Ella didn't remember being this scared in her life; it was nothing compared to the werewolf ordeal last year. And this was just the beginning. The idea of being exposed to dangerous events she wasn't even supposed to be exposed to, only made it worse. If that was even possible.

"Silence!" Snape demanded. Everyone obeyed "Elizabeth..."

The girl looked up. It was the second time Snape said her first name.

"Did you put your name in?"

"N-No." the Slytherin stuttered quietly

"Well of course they are lying." Madame Maxime's french accent sounded

"The hell they are." Moody growled, bursting through the door "The goblet of fire is an exceptionally powerful magical object, only an exceptionally powerful conjurer could have hoodwinked it. Magic way beyond the talents of a fourth year."

"You seem to have given this a fair bit of thought Mad-Eye." Karkaroff said accusingly

"It was once my job to think as dark wizards do, Karkaroff. Perhaps you remember?"

"That doesn't help, Alastor." Dumbledore said calmly "Barty, I leave this to you."

The Ministry official, who was quietly observing everyone in the room, moved forward and sighed looking at the two siblings. Snape, McGonagall,

"The rules are absolute; the Goblet of Fire constitutes a binding magical contract. Miss Evans and Mr Potter have no choice. They are as of tonight... Triwizard champions."

* * *

The champion selection was over. Students were now more angry at Elizabeth than ever, not to mention her brother. That night, neither of them could sleep. And while they were lying awake in their dormitories, a secret meeting was unfolding in a darkened tower. Under the light of a single wand, Albus Dumbledore, Alastor Moody, Minerva McGonagall and Severus Snape were discussing the distressing events of that night. Ellie wasn't the only one to have doubts.

"This can't go on, Albus." the woman said "First the Dark Mark, then Elizabeth's scar, now this?"

"What are you suggesting, Minerva?" Dumbledore said

"Put an end to it. Don't let the twins compete."

"You heard Barty. The rules are clear."

"Well the devil with Barty and his rules." McGonagall sighed angrily "And since when did you accomodate them?"

"Headmaster, I too find it difficult to believe this mere coincidence. I don't enjoy this, but if we are to truly discover the meaning of these events... perhaps we should, for the time being, let them unfold."

"Do nothing? Offer them up as bait? Potter is a boy not a piece of meat." Minerva argued "And what about your precious Slytherin?"

"She is-"

"Now, now, Severus..." Albus calmed "Minerva, I agree with Severus. Alastor, keep an eye on Harry will you?"

"I can do that." Moody replied simply

"Severus, I trust you'll keep and eye on Elizabeth."

"Of course."

"Don't let them know though, both of you. They must be anxious enough as it is... knowing what lies ahead. Then again, we all are."


	58. Rita Skeeter

Whispers and glares buzzed around Elizabeth's head as she sat in the Slytherin common room. Dozens of students passed by and ignored her, dozens glared at her, dozens pitied her, and dozens sat around her asking questions. Did she really want to be in the tournament? What was she thinking when she put her name in the Goblet of Fire? How did Rose manage to fool the Goblet? How dare she enter her name? All these questions, but no answers coming from the girl in question; Ella was just sitting on one of the tufted sofas, fiddling with the hem of her shirt in complete silence.

Eventually, Draco and Amir managed to break through the gathered crowd of Slytherin students and sit on either side of her. Angrily, Pansy Parkinson stepped forward, adamant on making things worse for her female rival. Malfoy glared at her, but it didn't stop Parkinson from speaking.

"How'd you do it, Evans?"

Elizabeth remained silent.

"Never mind. It doesn't matter." Parkinson continued "You could have let us know though."

Ella raised her head, eyebrows furrowed.

"Let you all know what?" she asked

"You bloody well know what."

"Sure I wanted to be in the Tournament, but I couldn't! I didn't ask for this to happen, Parkinson!"

"Aren't you glad it happened though." Pansy sneered

"No, I'm not!" Rose shouted, standing up to be level with her classmate "I didn't put my name in that cup. Someone else did and absolutely wants me in the damn tournament."

"Yeah, she's called Elizabeth Rose Evans."

"You should know by now, Parkinson, that that name is a bloody curse. Everywhere I go someone wants to hurt me, kidnap me... kill me, even. Who's to say that's not the reason why my name was put in the cup?"

"Well, if it is, good for me."

"Why you little- Stupefy!"

With a flash of red light, Pansy Parkinson flew back through the instantly parting crowd, stunned. Her friends gasped and ran over to her, shouting insults and curses to Elizabeth. Soon, the room was cleared of everyone save Amir and Draco. The former looked more furious than he'd ever been and Rose knew not why.

"Why do you look so angry, Amir? You're not the one they're antagonizing."

"It is one thing to be resentful towards someone, but it is another to turn that resentment into action." the Egyptian replied simply

"Don't patronize me, Amir. Parkinson deserved what she got." Rose snarled

"I tend to agree." Draco shrugged from behind Elizabeth

"Shut your mouth, Malfoy." Ferran spat, moving towards the blond

"Hey! This isn't about him."

"Why do you always insist on defending him, Rose?"

"I have my reasons. But again; this isn't about him." Ella said pointing Draco and recalling the events of the Quidditch World Cup

Amir was silent. With a sigh and a roll of her moss green eyes, Elizabeth gathered the books and parchment that had fallen off tables or desks when she hexed Parkinson. She was beginning to place the books back on their shelves when the Egyptian went one step too far. Ella shared Draco's look of surprise and contempt.

"Right, it is about you. It is always about you."

"What was that, Ferran?" Draco growled, moving forward

"Calm down, Draco." Liz said, holding him back then turned toward her dark skinned friend "I don't know if you've noticed, Amir, but I don't exactly like the situation I'm in."

"Of course not. But you enjoy the attention you are getting, do you not?"

"Not this kind of attention, Amir! I'm getting glares, rumors and insults!"

"You got your name in the Goblet. Is that not sufficient? Is that not what you wanted?" Ferran asked

"Yes, but I wasn't allowed to put my name in there, so I didn't." Rose answered with sigh

"When have the rules ever stopped you from getting what you want, Rose?"

"When there is no logical or magical way a fourth year student could have gotten what she wanted. Moody said so himself that there was no way a fourth year could have outsmarted the Goblet of Fire."

By now, Ellie was angrily pacing the room, face turned a furious shade of red. She couldn't believe what she was hearing or seeing. She couldn't believe that Amir was contradicting her on this matter. What was worse was the fact he thought she enjoyed being the target of multiple verbal attacks from not only students, but possibly a few Death Eaters and most likely He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - His mark at the Quidditch World Cup was proof enough for Liz that he was back. Elizabeth was appalled by her friend's betrayal. She also couldn't believe the fact that Draco had listened top her and was being quiet, standing behind her with his fists clenched. Normally he would have voiced his opinion quite rapidly and most likely mock Amir. But not this time. Glaring at Ferran's retreating figure was enough for him for the moment.

"But that doesn't matter-"

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?" Malfoy argued, looking away from the place Amir once stood

"I mean it doesn't bloody matter, Draco." Ella argued back, slamming more books into place

"If someone did put your name in the Goblet, you're in big trouble, Ella."

"So, what? I can take care of myself." another book

"Oh, I don't doubt that for a second; I saw what you did to Pansy and the Slytherin table." Draco chuckled "But it doesn't mean I won't worry."

"There's nothing to worry about, Draco." Rose said, slamming a final book into a bookshelf

"Yet... You're a trouble magnet, Ella, and you know it."

"Good for me. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Elizabeth placed a small pile of parchment back onto its respective desk and turned on her heel, hoping to get at least a decent amount of sleep out of this substandard day. More protests from her blond friend could not sway her decisions or her mentality. Rose would get through this tournament with the least amount of help of pity from anyone. She didn't need it, and Liz intended on making sure that whoever put her name in the Goblet of Fire wasted their time. Elizabeth was dead set on finishing this thing whether she came out alive... or dead.

* * *

Ella's ideas about making it through the Triwizard tournament were futile at this point. The next morning, it took her all of her strength to push through the crowd waiting to question or insult her in front of her dorm room. How a bunch of boys had gotten there she had no idea, but practically every Slytherin who wasn't gathered around her the previous night was standing in front of her door on Friday morning. Elizabeth had to threaten about a dozen more with her dark wand and had actually begun casting spells when Draco Malfoy came around and pulled her away. It seemed that for the time being, the most self-centered Slytherin was putting his needs aside to assist another. Merlin knows how long that would last.

Thankfully, when Rose was in the middle of History of Magic with Harry, Ron and Hermione, she and her brother got called away. She was able to avoid the feud Harry and Ron were having and ditch Caspar the boring ghost. However, she was pulled out of class for reasons regarding the Triwizard tournament. She, Harry, Viktor Krum, Fleur Delacour and Cedric Diggory were now sitting patiently in a plain and unused classroom. They weren't alone though.

Rita Skeeter was probably the most notorious journalist in the wizarding world, and not for the best reasons. For one, she was known for her poison-penned stories which were often based off fiction rather than fact. At the moment however, the six Champions were more concerned about the witch's appearance than her less-than-stellar employee record. Her rigid blonde hair set in elaborate curls complemented her stern and pushy personality, but contrasted oddly with her heavily-jawed face. The woman wore jeweled spectacles studded with rhinestones, and her fingers ended in two-inch nails, painted crimson and likened to claws or talons. In addition, Skeeter's penciled-on eyebrows and three gold teeth, as well as large, masculine hands just added to her frightening appearance. The crocodile-skin handbag she held dearly contained an acid green Quick-Quotes Quill, contrasting wildly with her magenta-coloured robes and maroon furs at the collars and sleeves.

Skeeter, after taking a few pictures with her abnormally bright camera flash turned on, rapidly moved forward and shook each of the Champions' hands quite vigorously. She also tended to stare and examine one's face when she did, which made Elizabeth highly uncomfortable, especially since her oldest scar now looked brand new. Also, it was very rude.

"I'm Rita Skeeter, I write for the daily prophet. But of course you know that don't you." the woman said in one breath "It's you we don't know, you're the news. What quirks lurk beneath those rosy cheeks? What mysteries do the muscles mask? Does courage lie beneath those curls? In short, what makes a champion tick." Skeeter said simply "Me, myself and I want to know. Not to mention my rabid readers. So, who's feeling up to sharing? Mmm? Shall we start with the youngest. Lovely."

Suddenly, assuming that Elizabeth was the youngest, Rita Skeeter dragged the Slytherin witch to a nearby broom cupboard and closed the door behind her. Elizabeth was short enough to not have her head hit the low ceiling, but Skeeter had to crouch uncomfortably. It was a very tight fit.

"Well, this is cozy." the journalist smiled

"It's a broom cupboard." Liz replied plainly

"Exactly. You don't mind if I use the quill do you?"

The woman held up her acid green Quick-Quotes Quill

"Yes, I do actually."

"Oh, well, it's all I have." Skeeter shrugged "So Elizabeth, a young girl of only twelve-"

"Fourteen." Ellie corrected with a sigh

"-about to compete against four students. Not only vastly more emotionally mature than yourself but have mastered spells that you wouldn't attempt in your dizziest daydreams, well, except your brother. Concerned?"

"What do you think?"

"Of course not. You're not just any random twelve year old." Rita said as her quill kept scribbling

"I'm fourteen." Rose corrected again

"The story's legend. Do you think it was the trauma of your past that made you so keen to enter such a dangerous tournament? Or is it the Slytherin in you that craves the attention, the fame?"

"I didn't put my name in the Goblet." Elizabeth said crossly

She wouldn't tolerate anyone assuming that she'd entered the Triwizard tournament. Yes, she had wanted to participate, but she couldn't. And there was no way Liz would let people think she had cheated in any shape or form. She'd take all the credit fair and square.

"Course you didn't." Skeeter dismissed "Everyone loves a rebel Elizabeth, especially if she's in Slytherin. Speaking of your parents, were they alive, how do you think they'd feel? Proud? Or concerned that your attitude shows at best a pathological need for attention, at worst a psychotic deathwish."

"Firstly, I don't have a psychotic deathwish. Second, I never knew my parents so I don't particularly care if they'd be proud or not. All I want is to survive this shi- situation." Liz admitted, then looked over at the piece of parchment the Quick-Quotes Quill was writing on "Bloody hell! I am not an insensitive juvenile!"


	59. International Day for Ferrets

_Elizabeth - Padfoot sent a letter to Harry concerning you two being entered in the Triwizard tournament. He wants you and your brother to meet him in the Gryffindor Common Room, at 1AM this Saturday night. Be there, please._

 _I don't even need to ask you if you put your name in the Goblet; I know you didn't. But the Death Eaters at the World Cup, that dream of yours and your name being pulled out of the Goblet of Fire... It's no coincidence. Hogwarts isn't safe anymore, Liz._

 _I haven't a clue who put your name in the Goblet of Fire, Elizabeth, but whoever did it is no friend of yours - people die in this tournament. And I know you aren't ready for this... but you have no choice. And if you ever need help, or someone to talk to, you know how to reach me._

 _Keep your friends close, Elizabeth._

 _Be safe_

 _R.J. Lupin_

* * *

Elizabeth did just as she was told by her Godfather, but it was of little use to her. Sirius basically repeated the same things that Lupin had written to her in the letter she had recieved. The only new thing he'd mentioned was that Igor Karkaroff was once a Death Eater and that Barty Crouch put his own son into Azkaban prison. She also gained a new sense of fear, knowing that these people were roaming freely about the castle.

Ron and Harry were still not talking, as were Rose and Amir. The former had tried to speak with her fellow Slytherin, but he was, like Ron with Harry, convinced that she was satisfied with the events that had unfolded. Elizabeth saw no point in pursuing someone who didn't care enough to see her point of view. Hermione was serving as an owl for any form of communication between Ron and Harry and it was getting on everyone's nerves, especially Hermione. Eventually she snapped and just sent Harry and her sister off to see Hagrid. Apparently he had something important to tell the siblings.

It was dark outside by the time that the twins were heading to Hagrid's. The only light came from the windows of the Half-Giant's windows, the moon and the bright twinkling stars. Harry and Elizabeth hid underneath the boy's invisibility cloak and ran up to the hut, rapping on the door. The Giant opened the door wearing a rough brown suit complimented with a large orange flower, and ushered the two floating heads towards the Forbidden Forest.

Ella was a little apprehensive heading into the woods. The last few times she was there, You-Know-Who tried to attack her and a Werewolf almost killed her. The unhappy memories made her exeedingly nervous to the point where her hands began trembling. Harry smiled reassuringly at her underneath the cloak and grabbed her hand. Ellie's Gryffindor brother could always make her feel safe with the simplest of gestures.

"Hagrid, where are we going?" Harry asked

"Yeh'll see soon enough. Pay attention this is important." Hagrid replied playing with the flower on his suit

"What's with the flower?"

"Have you combed your hair, Hagrid?" Ella asked quietly

"As a matter o' fact I did. You migh' wan' teh tell yer brother to try it now and again."

Ellie smiled at Harry who merely rolled his eyes. Suddenly, the three heard leaves ruffle nearby and a voice calling out to Hagrid.

"Hide yer heads. Hide yer heads."

The twins let go of each other's hands and threw the cloak over their heads just as Madame Olympe Maxime came into view. Harry and Elizabeth exchanged a look: was Hagrid on a date?

"Bonsoir Olympe." the Half-Giant smiled

"Oh, 'agrid." the giantess sighed "I thought you weren't coming, I thought per'aps... you 'ad... forgotten me."

"Couldn't forget you Olympe."

The siblings looked at each other and pretended to gag. Hagrid was really trying to impress this woman.

"What is it you wanted to show me, 'agrid? When we spoke earlier you sounded so ex'ilirated."

"You'll be glad you came." Hagrid said them turned to a seemingly empty space beside him "Trust me."

Harry and Ellie knew he was talking to them. What was in the Forbidden Forest that could be so important? Elizabeth had the Tournament, her classes and hundreds of insults and badges to worry about.

After a few more moment of walking and tripping over large tree roots, the four magic folk came upon a large clearing in the tall dark trees. About one hundred feet away, were sitting five large metal cages. Suddenly, a blazing orange light blinded the twins and a large roar sounded in the clearing. People were running about, trying to wrangle up five huge Dragons. That was it... The first task was Dragons.

* * *

The next thing Elizabeth knew, people were wearing multicoloured badges on their robes. Viktor Krum fans wore badges showing him with a fist in the air. Others had badges with a blooming flower for Fleur Delacourt. Bright yellow badges depicted Cedric and then turned green, showing Harry with the words "Potter stinks"; most Slytherins wore those ones. The Gryffindors however had badges that either showed Cedirc or Harry, which in turn insulted Liz by saying: "Evil Evans".

Harry and Elizabeth walked together to find Cedric. Against Elizabeth's better judgement, Harry only thought it fair that the Hufflepuff found out about the Dragons as well. Liz wanted to keep the information to her and her brother, seeing the numerous badges insulting the both of them; why'd he deserve to know anyway?

Liz had to admit that Harry had it worse than him. People ran by them yelling "Potter Stinks" and Harry would just thank them in a sarcastic tone. But when people ran past them shouting "Evil Evans", it wasn't long before either Ella or any other Slytherin jinxed the hell out of them. As a result, people cowered before the girl every time she looked at them.

Eventually, the twins reached Cedric. Harry looked particularly unphased by his friends who were spewing more insults at them, but Ella looked ready to burst. She put her hand in her pocket to show them that she'd be ready to hex them. They quieted down immediately.

"Can we have a word?" Harry asked the Hufflepuff senior

"Can you have a word. Not we." Elizabeth corrected, still glaring at Cedric's friends

Harry shot his sister a look.

"All right." the boy replied

The three of them moved a certain distance away.

"Dragons. That's the first task. They've got one for each of us." Harry told Cedric

"Are you serious!? And Fleur and Krum, do they know?" he replied

"Of course they do." Ellie said snidely

"Right. Hey listen, about the badges. I've asked them not to wear them."

"Whatever."

Elizabeth turned on her heel just as Ron and Seamus passed, she decided them to be better company than "Pretty Boy Diggory". Jogging lightly she caught up to them and smiled.

"Hey guys, mind if I walk with you? I have no intention of talking to that stupid Diggory."

"Sure, just don't bring your brother along." Ron said

"Are you two still at it? Merlin's beard you are idiots."

"That's what I said." Seamus said in his Irish accent

"You're a foul git you know that?" Harry commented, suddenly coming up behind the three students

"Harry!"

"You think so?" Ron said, ignoring Liz's protest

"I know so."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah, stay away from me and my sister."

"Harry, you can't decided that for me!" Ella argued, but was dragged away by her brother "Hey, let go of me!"

"I would listen to her if I were you, Potter. She's been known to hex people to annoy her." a voice said from the twins' left

They turned and saw that it was Malfoy who had called out to them. Angrily, Ellie wrung her arm out of her brother's grip and stormed away towards Malfoy who was casually leaning against a tree. Liz noted the sun made his eyes shine. Ignoring the last thought, she smiled at him. He smiled back then turned to Harry. Ellie's face went warm.

"Why so tense, Potter?" Draco continued with a smirk "Is it the badges or the whole thing?"

"Draco, come on, let's go." Rose said softly

"Shut it, Malfoy." Harry growled

It was too late now. Harry had taken the bait, and Draco wasn't one to back down from things like this. Elizabeth sighed and leaned next to the blond, waiting for this to die down. She didn't care anymore.

"My father and I have a bet you see. I don't think you'll last ten minutes in this tournament. He thinks you won't last five." the Slytherin said loudly "Now, I bet Ella over here is gonna win this thing."

"Thanks, Draco. But can we just go?" Rose asked

"I don't give a damn what you and your father think, Malfoy." Harry said before Draco could respond "He's vile and cruel. You're just pathetic."

"Harry!"

Harry angrily walked away ignoring his sister. For once it wasn't Elizabeth aiming to hex someone, but Draco who followed him a few feet with his wand pointed at the Gryffindor's back. Just before he uttered a spell, Mad-Eye Moody appeared like a ghost and transfigured the young Malfoy into a ferret.

With a loud gasp and many curse words, Elizabeth watched as Ferret-Draco was bounced up and down by Moody's wand. Luckily for Draco (the ferret), Professor McGonagall arrived rapidly, her face stern as ever.

"Professor Moody, what are you doing?" she asked

"Teaching." he replied simply

"Is that student?"

"Technically its a ferret."

"Draco is not a ferret!" Ella shouted

Mad-Eye kept making the ferret hover around, sending it up Crabbe's trouser leg. He squirmed, visibly uncomfortable. Everyone was laughing, save Elizabeth who was turning a furious shade of red. How dare he use transfiguration on Draco? He wasn't even allowed to! Surely Dumbledore had told him that. And if Moody thought she hadn't noticed, Ella definitely saw the wink he sent Harry who was laughing along everyone else.

Eventually, McGonagall got the ferret out of there and turned Draco back to normal. Rose ran forward and helped him up, glaring daggers at everyone, especially Moody. The both of them stalked off, fuming. Draco more than Ella for obvious reasons. Crabbe and Goyle immediately followed, but Ella glared at them making them leave quite rapidly. She grabbed Draco's hand without thought and dragged him away from everything.

"I can't believe that... that-"

"Freak?" Ellie completed for Malfoy, once they were far away from the 'crime' scene

"That freak!" the boy echoed "I swear, my father will hear about this!"

"Of course."

"How dare he? I mean and in front of everyone? What'll people think of me n-"

Ella angrily removed her hand from Draco's and violently covered his mouth with it. She had had with his complaining, or anyone's for that matter. Maybe Hermione was right when she said Elizabeth was impatient.

"Enough whining." the girl said sharply, glaring into the cold grey eyes of her friend "You're a Malfoy. Grow a pair and get over it, Draco."

"You're supposed to be angry at Moody, not me, Kid." the blond chuckled

"You did not just call me, Kid."

"Didn't I? I thought I did."

"You're such an idiot."

"I live to please."


	60. The First Task

The First Task had been looming over Elizabeth's head for some time now. Hermione, Ron, Draco and even Amir had tried to speak with her, but she'd wave them off and concentrate on whatever book she was reading. The girl would spend all her free time in the library or the Slytherin Common Room, looking up everything she could find on dragons and their weaknesses. Finding a dragon's weakness was easier said than done. There were at least twelve known species of dragons, and that wasn't counting all the interbreeding they were probably doing on their own time, creating rare hybrids (since dragon breeding was outlawed in the Warlock's Convention of 1709).

She knew about all of a dragon's uses - as obstacles, mounts, in business and as materials - but she scarcely knew how to disable, let alone distract one. So far, all she'd managed to scrape up was that trying to stun a dragon was about as safe and effective as singing to a Basilisk - which was not very. Elizabeth debated whether she should send a letter to Lupin, asking him about the dragons, but she didn't want to bother or worry him more than he probably already was. So Ella continued to study all the books she could, however, she probably should have done that outside of her potions class.

It was now Friday afternoon, and the Gryffindors and Slytherins were enjoying double periods of Potions class with the ever-so-cheerful professor Severus Snape. They were supposed to be brewing a girding potion which, according to Snape, "may be consumed to increase one's endurance for a considerable number of weeks". However, most cauldrons were smoking, its contents turning black instead of being a clear golden colour and smelling of rotting fruit. Elizabeth had added the dragonfly thoraxes, fairy wings, flying seahorses and doxy eggs in their respective quantities and orders - making a few of her own adjustments - and was now waiting for the potion to brew. She decided it would be wise to review some more material on her dragon problem while she was waiting, her professor didn't agree.

"Miss Evans, are you aware that this is a potions class?"

"Yes, sir." the girl replied, not looking up from her book

"Than I think it wise for you to pay attention to your cauldron, rather than your extracurricular activities." Snape said sharply

"With all due respect, Sir, I could brew this potion in my sleep. On the other hand, battling dragons is kind of life threatening and I'd rather not die crushed underneath one's foot."

"My office, after class."

With a small nod, Ellie agreed to the meet. She assumed he was going to give her detention. Why he couldn't do that in front of everyone else was a mystery to her especially when he had the nerve of loudly slamming her book shut - the girl's nose nearly got caught between the pages. Ella let out a small huff and blew a strand of raven hair out of her face as she blankly stared after her professor.

Draco, after closely following whatever Elizabeth was doing, finished his Girding potion at the same time as the latter. They both handed in their phials and went back to their desks, both expecting an 'O' written in neat cursive. Only a few minutes of Draco trying to talk to Liz later (without any promising results), class was dismissed and everyone filed out of the classroom quite rapidly, hoping to avoid any last minute scolding for not properly cleaning their workspace or putting away the ingredients correctly. The young Malfoy mentioned saving Elizabeth a spot at the Slytherin table and sauntered off with Crabbe and Goyle, whereas the young Evans lazily padded towards her professor's office.

Snape's office was just as Elizabeth remembered it. Gloomy and dimly-lit as ever, the shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars filled with slimy, revolting things, such as bits of animals and plants, floating in liquids of various colours. It appeared that the man's collection grew over time - there were less jars last time she was here, by now Ellie was sure there hundreds of them. The fireplace was lit and warm, hiding behind the mountain of parchments and books atop of Snape's desk, at which he was quietly sitting. Elizabeth took a seat in the large black armchair that was placed in front of his desk.

"You asked to see me professor?"

"I should give you detention right away, miss Evans." Snape said in his usual soft and contained voice "But seeing as you can indeed brew potions in your sleep, I'll give you a pass."

"Thank you, sir." Ella said quietly

"However... I will give you extra homework."

The young witch contained a sigh. The last thing she needed right now was more homework. Rose had the First Task to worry about, which was arriving quite rapidly - it was only six days away. However, curiosity washed over her when Snape dropped three books and a few rolls of parchment onto a nearby table.

"You may go to your dorm and change if you wish. I'll have a house elf bring you supper." the potions master said simply before returning to his grading

Before she even glanced at the books and the rolls of parchment, Elizabeth went to change into clothing that was more suitable for studying in - the tie was too constricting. When she returned, a large plate of food was set next to her "homework" - she mentally thanked whatever house elf brought her this much food. She took a first bite and immediately go to work.

Elizabeth quite enjoyed working in her professor's office, and now understood why he spent so much time in here. To most if not all students, it seemed like a dark and dingy room devoid of charm or comfort, but filled with darkness and unease. But the girl - and most likely Severus Snape - found it quite comforting despite its dreary appearance. Liz found it relaxing save the constant dripping sound coming from one of the windows leading straight into the bottom of the Black Lake. And even the complete silence between the two wizards was pleasant; quite a change from the loud and jovial company Ella usually kept.

Snape mostly ignored his favourite student. Once in a while, when he stopped hearing pages turn or a quill rapidly scratching something down, he'd glance up and notice something different about her. At first it was just the messed up ponytail she had atop her head, but then she ended up sitting cross-legged on her chair, and before he knew it she was fast asleep, cheek pressed against the image of a Hungarian Horntail.

* * *

Six days went by like Harry on his Firebolt: fast. And even though Elizabeth knew everything she could about the First Task, she was still obscenely nervous; more nervous than she'd ever be.

Standing stiffly at the center of the tent reserved for the Champions with her hands clasped tightly behind her back, Ella tried not to have a panic attack, pass out or vomit. She could hear the entire student body cheering different names, the loudest being Diggory - Hogwarts had more students than the other two schools combined. Harry seemed twice as nervous as his sister who was trying her very best to look calm and collected. It seemed to be working as Viktor Krum came over a few times to ask her how she could be so calm.

However the stoical look on her face was momentarily broken by whispers coming from the outside of the tent. Harry broke her relative calm even more by grabbing her by the wrist and dragging her towards the sound that apparently he too had heard.

"Harry? Lizzie? Is that you?" the Slytherin recognised Hermione's voice

"Yeah." the twins replied simultaneously

"How are you feeling? Okay?"

"How d'you think, Hermione?" Harry sighed

"Right, sorry. The key is to concentrate." Hermione continued "After that you just have to-"

"Battle a bloody dragon." Ella said irritably stepping away from the edge of the tent and resuming her previous position

A loud shuffling sound, followed by large flash of white light broke Elizabeth's concentration once again. With an angry sigh, she turned on her heel and spotted Rita Skeeter taking a picture of Harry and Hermione hugging, both of whom pulled away from each other when they saw the woman clad in lime green.

"Young love! Oh, how stirring!" she exclaimed "If everything goes unfortunately today you might take the front page."

"Piss off, woman." Ellie growled

"Oh, someone's angry... and seemingly unbothered by the events about to unfold." Skeeter continued, snapping a picture of the Slytherin

"You have no business 'ere. Zhis tent is for champions and friends." Krum added, holding Elizabeth back

"No matter. We've got what we wanted."

And with a wink and another snapshot of Elizabeth, Rita Skeeter left the tent just as Headmaster Dumbledore entered. He cast a fleeting eye at the space where the horrid woman once stood and ignored it as if he'd never noticed anything. Krum let go of Liz; her composure was regained.

"Good day, Champions." Dumbledore said softly "Gather 'round please. Now you've waited, you've wondered, and at last the moment has arrived. The moment only five of you can fully appreciate."

The student gather around slowly. Something caught Dumbledore's eye.

"What are you doing here, miss Granger?"

"Oh, uh, I'll just go."

And with that, Hermione smiled nervously at Harry and her 'sister' before rushing out into the crowd. The Headmaster calls for Barty Crouch Sr. - the man who sent his son to Azkaban - who held up a bag in the center of the circle. Elizabeth knew that she was about to randomly select the dragon she'd be facing. Which one that'd be... she hadn't the faintest idea.

"Champions, in a circle around me please." Crouch stated "Now, one at a time, place your hand in the bag and take an object."

Fleur went first and picked out a small green dragon: the Common Welsh Green, the easiest dragon anyone cold have possibly chosen in Ella's opinion. Next was Krum, who took out a miniature version of the Chinese Fireball, a very aggressive snub-snouted creature. Cedric pulled out a Swedish Short-Snout from the bag. Even though it didn't have forward limbs, this dragon can produce blue flame - a most powerful flame. Elizabeth knew everything about these dragons thanks to the extra "homework" Snape had assigned her last week, but she found that those three were the simplest dragons to battle. The two most dangerous ones were yet to come for the twins.

Unfortunately for Harry, he picked out the Hungarian Horntail. It was a pitch-black dragon, with blazing yellow eyes. Bronze horns and similarly coloured spikes protruded from its long tail which it would gladly deploy in combat, as Horntails are also known for being one of the most vicious and aggressive breeds of dragon. She heard Hagrid say once that the Hungarian Horntail was "a right nasty piece of work".

"The Hungarian Horntail." Barty Crouch commented unnecessarily "Which leaves..."

The Ukrainian Ironbelly, Ellie thought as she pulled out a small moving dragon. Even in its miniaturised form it was larger than every other dragon. The largest dragon ever recorded, the Ukrainian Ironbelly could grow up to be sixty feet long, the approximate height of a six storey building. Mainly a bipedal breed, the Ironbelly got its name from its metallic grey scales that are said to be as hard as steel. The books Elizabeth read stated that it had a wingspan almost twice its body length, foot long talons and eyes as red as blood. However, they were often the same colour as its scales because of a protective scale which covered them. Even they are said to be slower in flight because of their mass, the Ukrainian Ironbelly was known for using the spikes on its tail to crush and pierce any kind of material - especially flesh. And if that wasn't enough, the reptile could produce jets of flames up to 1960 degrees Celsius, which is sixteen times hotter than the boiling point of water. Luckily, Ella's knowledge in potions was going to help her, as long as she stayed alive long enough for it to work.

"The Ukrainian Ironbelly." the Slytherin said calmly, staring at the miniature dragon

"These represent very real dragons, each of which has been given a golden egg to protect." Crouch stated "Your objective is simple: collect the egg. This you must do, for each egg contains a clue without which you cannot hope to proceed to the next task. Any questions?"

Silence fell upon the champion like a twenty foot wave onto a beach of innocent swimmers. Everything suddenly had gotten very, very real for the lot of them. Only Elizabeth managed to nod, reviewing her plan inside her head for what seemed like the millionth time.

Before she knew it, Cedric Diggory was already out in the arena beginning to battle his Swedish Short-Snout. Fleur, Krum and Harry were pacing nervously, Dumbledore attempting to calm them down. However, he didn't feel the need to interfere with Rose who was as cool as a cucumber on the outside. She was ignoring all the sounds coming from the arena and focused on her breathing, making sure she didn't hyperventilate. Soon, another canon went off and Krum was sent out. Another cannon went off and Fleur went out. A fourth cannon went off and Ella let go of her brother so he could face the Hungarian Horntail. It took longer for Harry to defeat his dragon, but it seemed he was alive and somewhat well since Liz could hear happy cheers. Then it was her turn.

The canon fired immediately, bringing the Slytherin out of her thoughts. She calmly walked out into the rocky arena. Everyone fell into dead silence. The shimmering golden colour of the egg caught her eye immediately, but she - like the others - didn't run for it. There was a large dark cave behind that egg, and the dragon she was facing was too big to fit completely inside; she could see its metallic spiky grey tail just sticking out. Instead, Rose raised her wand to the sky and quietly muttered "Accio, Draught of Living Death". No one heard her, except maybe for the dragon on the other side of the arena.

Suddenly, the whole arena's rocky ground began to shake as a gigantic Ukrainian Ironbelly burst out from the cave. Destroying the cave in the process, it sent dozens of large broken pieces of rock flying everywhere. Hundreds of gasps rang throughout the crowd as Elizabeth ran around trying to avoid every single piece of falling rock. The dragon wasted no time in swinging its insanely long tail, large spikes smashing into a nearby boulder; Rose jumped out of the way just in time. The dragon roared so loudly that almost everyone in the crowed howled in pain, but Elizabeth ignored it. She even ignored the near-two thousand degree fire practically engulfing her. Just as she rose to get out of the way, the rock she was hiding behind fell into ash.

Suddenly, a small ringing in her ear caught her attention. She rapidly turned and followed the trajectory of the falling object. She ran forward, dragon tail swinging at her front and back, narrowly missing her each time, and fire scorching parts of her skin. With one last burst of energy, Elizabeth jumped up onto a rock and caught the bottle which contained a Draught of Living Death, verified by Professor Snape himself. Hiding inside the remains of the cave, she uncorked the bottle and used a slightly different version of the Locomotor charm and created a floating stream of potion before her. The Slytherin's concentration didn't even break when the Ukrainian Ironbelly smashed the roof of the cave. With one swift movement, Elizabeth slashed the air and sent to potion flying into the dragon's eyes, nostrils and mouth. It began to thrash violently, but only for a moment before it collapsed to the ground, a low snoring sound echoing throughout the arena. The potion, her plan, her everything had worked.

Without another moment of doubt, Ella let out a relieved smile and sigh. Immediately, every student began to cheer and scream her name as she tiredly made her way towards the golden egg at the center of the arena. She grasped it in her hand, feeling the cold metal against her skin, and raised it in the air with pride.


	61. Screeching and Harsh Hissing

Everyone was born to win, born to succeed, so to see 'the Slytherin Princess' conquer the First task so brilliantly elevated the other Slytherins' spirit; maybe, just maybe, the fourth year witch could win the Triwizard Tournament. Their spirits rose out of their chests, shouts of joy and excitement echoing in the dungeons of Hogwarts castle. With the cheers came fists in the air and eyes flung wide, Elizabeth Rose Evans hoisted up on the shoulders of two burly Slytherin. Everyone was electrified, awake despite the late hour, soaring to new heights of emotion no other house thought the Serpent's could achieve. All the studying, the practising Elizabeth had been doing had finally paid off. She, despite the sour looks and hurtful comments from most of her peers, had proven them wrong; she'd made it through the First Task, and she'd flaunt that accomplishment with great pride and big grin on her face. After all, she was a Slytherin.

Held in Elizabeth's hands was her prize, the proof of her accomplishment - save the burns and scars that she'd neglected to have healed at the Hospital Wing. The Golden Egg that the Ukrainian Ironbelly was guarding violently was quite large, at least the size of someone's head. The engravings on the shell were odd, unrecognisable by even Ella, and the top design on the egg resembled a star. Still, no one knew what was going to be inside once it was opened.

Soon however, the cheering, shouting, drinking and dancing had ended due to professor Snape storming into the Common Room, demanding that the students rested. He congratulated Elizabeth on her win, but expected her to do the same as everyone else. When the dark man left, Ella slumped down into one of the black tufted sofas of the Dungeon, sighing contentedly as she gazed at the golden egg.

"I knew you wouldn't die, Ella."

The girl turned her head towards the voice that she recognised as belonging to Draco Malfoy; he too hadn't listened to professor Snape and remained awake.

"Or lose a leg, an arm, maybe a few fingers?"

"Are those all thing people have been saying?" Liz chuckled, staring at her hands on her lap

"Yeah, they are. Oh, don't forget 'burned beyond recognition'." Draco added with a cheeky smile as he flopped down next to Ella

"It's nice to know people have faith in me."

"Hey, I had faith in you!"

"You're one of four people... Practically the whole school was against me and Harry."

"Who cares? You battled a dragon and won, Ella! I'd say they have to respect you now." Draco stated, leaning back "If not, they're a bunch of idiots who don't deserve to be in your glorious presence."

"Thanks, I think..."

"D'you know what's in the egg?" Malfoy asked, looking over at the object in question

"No, I don't." Rose admitted, crossing to fetch the egg then sitting back down

"D'you know what those markings are?"

"No, but they seem familiar. Maybe I've seen them in a book somewhere."

"Does that look like a starfish to you?" the boy asked, pointing to a shape on top of the egg

"It kind of does... Wait." Ellie realised "A starfish... These drawings - come on."

Elizabeth grabbed her egg and ran to her dorm, only to come back with her wand and a few potion bottles. She put them in her bag and was about to exit the common room when the young Malfoy grabbed her wrist to stop her. The contact made Ella's face flush a soft pink. It was a good thing the green tinged light from the Black Lake hid it quite nicely.

"Where are you going?" he asked

"We are going to the library." Rose replied

"We? What do you mean we?"

"You are going to help me confirm my theory."

"Okay, but can't we do that, I don't know, in the morning?"

"I won't be able to sleep if I don't do it now."

"We're going to get caught." Draco warned

"I've never been caught yet, why would I now?" Ella smirked

"Wait you do this on a regular basis!?"

"Did it yesterday. Now, shut up and follow me."

It was now Elizabeth's turn to grab Draco's wrist and drag him along with her. She didn't care if he wanted to come or not - since they were heading for the library, and it was past curfew - but she knew she wouldn't get caught. Even if she did, she was prepared; the two potion bottles she stashed in her bag were a couple of invisibility potions that she'd brewed in her spare time. Plus, she knew the invisibility charm that most older students didn't know existed. She was prepared for the worst.

Dodging down the dark corridors of Hogwarts castle as quietly as possible was hard enough to all by oneself, but as a duo? Nearly impossible. Good thing Draco had put a kind of silencing charm on their shoes. They were about halfway there when Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, appeared in the middle of the corridor. Elizabeth immediately cast an invisibility spell on the both of them just as Filch turned the corner and was standing behind his feline companion. He glanced around and scolded his cat for 'lying' to him.

When they had arrived, the library door easily swung open after Alohomora was cast on the lock. The two Slytherins quietly made their way towards the reference section, where most of the books were found. Skimming the over the spines of the books quite rapidly, Ella selected nearly a dozen including Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Magical Creatures and Most Macabre Monstrosities. Draco immediately took the latter and began leafing through it, looking for images similar to the ones on the egg. Liz took Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, thinking it was the most obvious place to look.

About a half-hour later is when luck struck both students. Draco had found images identical to the ones that were engraved on the golden object, and were listed under Aquatic Creatures. It finally clicked in Ella's brain. She leafed through the book she was reading and fell upon:

"Mermaids?" Draco said dumbfounded "You think that this belongs to a mermaid?"

"Not a mermaid, a Selkie; they swim by the window in my dorm sometimes. If you don't bother them, they're quite nice."

"You talk to mermaids?"

"Well, I don't talk to them since they can't hear me through the glass, but I have been trying to learn Mermish - it's quite difficult to be honest." the girl continued absent-minded "Underwater it sounds much like English, or any other language for that matter, but on land it's kind of a series of screeches and harsh raspy soun- sorry, I'm rambling."

"No, no, by all means; educate me." Draco chuckled

"Well, I was basically done."

"Good, you were rambling."

"Thought so."

Elizabeth rose from her seat and went to place all the books back. Draco followed her, looking at her closely.

"But there's one thing I don't get... There are mermaids in the Black Lake?" Malfoy asked, utterly confused

"Well, yeah, there always have been. Selkies are native to Scotland, Merrow to Ireland and Memaids are everywhere else, especially Greece. The ones in the Black Lake are Selkies, and aren't as beautiful as Greek Sirens." Elizabeth continued "The Selkies we have in the Black Lake have green hair, yellow eyes and grey skin. But there's one that comes by my window often... she has blueish skin and hair. She may not be a Selkie, maybe a Merrow... I'd have to check, and - I'll shut up now.

"I kind of like hearing you talk." Draco said with a half-smile

"Oh, well, uh if you give me something to explain or talk about I could go on for hours." Rose chuckled, a little embarrassed "I get carried away... a lot."

"I know, but before you do, we should get back to the Dungeons before someone notices that the door to the library is unlocked."

"Good idea."

The invisibility charm Ella had cast on Draco and herself had long ago worn off, so she cast it again, allowing the two to slink back to their Common Room undetected. She took the large egg out of her backpack (it had an undetectable extension charm on it, which she put on her bag with great difficulty a few years previous) and placed it on the table. Both students sat on the sofa right in front of it. Elizabeth examined the egg once more, this time paying more attention to the greater details. It seemed that there were hinges at the bottom of the object seemingly giving it the ability to open it. But how? The young Malfoy answered that question quite rapidly as he pressed the starfish at the top of the egg. It opened, just like the boy thought it would, but neither of them expected the loud screeching and hissing. Ella closed it up.

"What the hell was that!?" Draco complained, removing his hands from his ears

"That my dear Draco, was what Mermish sounds like out of water. Of course, Merpeople don't speak that loud unless they're angry... or singing!" Liz gasped happily, raising from her seat "That's it! This is a song I have to listen to!"

"That? A song? You can't possibly be serious?"

"The song is the clue I desperately need to complete the next task; of course I'm being serious! Why would I not be serious if it involves endangering my own life?"

"Good point."

"Of course it is. But the question remains... where am I going to listen to this song?"

"Ella, please... figure this out in the morning?" the young Malfoy said in between yawns

"Fine, but I blame you if I don't get enough sleep." the girl chuckled in reply

"Knock yourself out, kid."

Malfoy rose from where he was sitting and sent Ellie a lazy smile which caused her heart to flutter ever-so-slightly. That boy was affecting her in ways she didn't completely understand. Every time she'd see him, his smile would light up her day. His jokes and snide comments about anything and everything always made her laugh or at the very least smile. She'd always thought he was a cute kid, but the years were doing him good; he was growing into a handsome young man. And despite what most people thought of him, Ella brought out something in Draco Malfoy that only she got to see; a kindness that he only awarded to her. Without realising what it truly meant - all the smiles she seemed to sending him, the flutter she'd feel when he'd smile back or the rising heat in her cheeks when he unwittingly complimented her - Elizabeth went to bed thinking it just something everyone felt towards their best friend; complete happiness. She was however, falling hard for Draco Malfoy.

* * *

The next morning, Rose woke up to the sound of her dorm mates arguing again. Rachel and Daphne were once again antagonizing Millicent Bulstrode, but Liz didn't care since she and Millicent hadn't had a proper conversation since their second year. She simply climbed out of bed and claimed the bathroom to take a shower and change into clean clothes. She and the other Champions were given the day off to recoup after their exhausting ordeal.

Hermione waved her over as she entered the Great Hall, but someone dragged her out of the Hall and into the adjacent corridor. Ellie was surprised to see Amir standing in front of her, not looking like he wanted to start a fight like he'd been the last few weeks.

"Elizabeth, I realise now that you would have needed to be extremely foolish to enter your name in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Caught on have you? Took you long enough."

"It was not only me who thought you had put your name in the Goblet of Fire - everyone else was saying things behind your back as well." Amir admitted

"Yeah, thanks Amir. That makes me feel so much better." Elizabeth said sarcastically and began to walk away

"Rose, please. Accept my sincerest apologies, I never should have doubted you."

"You're right, you shouldn't have. Because I've ever lied to you, and I never will. So believe me when I say that it'll take more than your 'sincerest apologies' to make me forgive you."

Ella stormed away and back into the Great Hall where her 'sister' was still waving her over quite agitated. As she sat down and began to pile breakfast sausages, eggs and waffles onto her plate, the Gryffindor witch dropped a copy of the daily prophet right next to her.

"What is this?"

"Read it." Hermione said simply

"'Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl seems to be developing a taste for famous wizards. Her latest prey, sources report, is none other than Viktor Krum. No word on how Harry Potter's taking the emotional blow.' I can't believe it!" Liz gasped, outraged

"There's a section about you too, Liz." Ron said simply "It's a bit more... detailed, though."

Elizabeth flipped a few pages and kept reading.

"'Out of all the Champions entered in the Triwizard tournament, none is more mysterious and dangerous than the famous Elizabeth Evans. While her brother seems quite disturbed by the events of his past, the young Slytherin doesn't seem to care about whether her parents are alive or dead.

Not only does this attractive young woman have a reputation to be an insensitive juvenile, sources state that she also has an uncanny obsession with breaking the rules. Often sneaking out at night to commit illicit activities, Evans is said to have been exempted by many detentions because she is her Head of House's favourite student; Severus Snape has of course denied these allegations. Elizabeth is also said to find pleasure in hexing other students who dare cross her path. Many students have admitted to her nearly blowing up the entire Great Hall at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry simply because someone didn't approve of what she said.

But why is young girl so violent towards her peers? Sources say it is due to the fact that she feels superior to others because she's in Slytherin House, some say it's because her fame went to her head, others claimed it's because she has a pathological desire for control over everyone around her.

Whatever the case, one person she seems to have under her spell is the ever popular Draco Malfoy, who is often spotted laughing by her side. The young Malfoy seems to have adopted the Girl-Who-Lived's disciplinary style and is also seen hexing students to defend the girl he desperately wants approval from, but might sadly never get since Elizabeth Evans may be incapable of any kind of compassion.

Beware of this one kids, who knows what she's really capable of. Only time will tell...'" Elizabeth read out loud, voice getting more and more strained as she furthered her reading "That woman! That vile, imbecilic creature! How dare she say all these things!?"

Ellie was trying her best to contain herself, but her anger was one of the things she had trouble taking control of. Often she would be calm while stressed or sad, and would rarely show any kind of agitation. But almost the entirety of the student body and staff knew - and ran - when she was mad.

"I know, Lizzie. It's bad."

"Bad!? Bad is an understatement, 'Mione. This is the worst thing... ever."

"Well, you could have died during the tournament yesterday, that would've been worse." Ron commented, stuffing half a danish in his mouth

"He's got a point, Elizabeth." Harry said "They're just words. False words at that."

"So what? People are still stupid enough to believe this stuff!"

"Well, I think there are a few truths in there." Hermione said "But it isn't only for you, it's for all of us. We do break the rules a lot and tend to get away with it."

"Especially you, Liz. Snape has taken a liking to you." Harry continued

"So he's saved me from a few detentions, big deal. It's not like he sends me off without a cross word; I was in his office doing homework for nearly six hours last week." Rose countered

She threw the newspaper at the center of the table. Seamus snatched it.

"Homework that aided you in completing the first task." Hermione corrected

"What about Harry!? Dumbledore has been getting him out of a lot of shit over the years." ignoring the statement her 'sister' had just provided

"You're right, he has helped me loads. But at least I admit it and tell you guys about it." Harry argued "You've been keeping a lot of things to yourself lately, Liz."

"Merlin's beard, Elizabeth Evans has a private life! Call the Ministry and have her arrested!" Ella said, voice dripping with sarcasm "Look, just because I don't share my feelings as openly as you guys do doesn't mean I'm hiding anything. Trust me, if it was really important I'd tell you."

"You're different, Lizzie." Hermione said sadly "I don't know what it is, but you've changed. You used to be so happy and excited about everything. Now you just seem... sad, angry or stressed all the time."

"I think you're turning into Snape." Ron commented

"It's Professor Snape, to you, Ronald. And I'm not turning into him, I'm just... different."

"You're a lot different from me." Harry stated

"What'd you expect, Harry? For us to be identical twins? I told you that we had the same mother, but not the same father. Maybe my dad was like this..."

"Closed off? Arrogant? In a constant state of negativity?"

"No... Realistic."


	62. How to Dance Without Dying

Silence had fallen upon the quartet just after Elizabeth had spoken. She said she was being realistic, but the girl herself didn't know what was happening. She just felt as if everyone was against her, or that they were oblivious to the hell she was going through. Not to mention the fact that her head would spin every time Draco Malfoy walked into the room. Surely she couldn't talk to Hermione about that, could she?

Luckily, the tense silence was broken by a short Gryffindor boy who came up behind Ron, startling him. Quiet laughs further broke the unease. The young boy was holding out a large package. From where she sat, Elizabeth could see that it was from Mrs. Weasley.

"Parcel for you, Mr. Weasley." the young boy said

"Thank you, Nigel." Ron replied

Nigel didn't leave however - he was staring intently between Harry and his sister as if waiting for something.

"Not now, Nigel. Later. Go on." Ron added. Nigel left "I told him I'd get Harry and Elizabeth's autographs."

"Of course you did." Harry sighed with a smile

"Oh look, mum's sent me something..."

Ronald tore open the package to reveal thick brown fabric with cream coloured lace.

"Mum sent me a dress?" Ron said, dumbfounded

"Well, it does bring out the colour of your eyes." Liz laughed "Is there a matching bonnet?"

"Ginny, these must be for you."

"I'm not wearing that; it's ghastly." the girl replied

Elizabeth and Hermione laughed.

"What are you two on about?" Ron asked

"They're not for Ginny, they're for you!" Ella chuckled

"They're dress robes, Ronald." Hermione added

"Dress robes? For what?"

Later that day, as if things couldn't get worse for the quartet, every student fourth year and up had gathered by house and year in different assembly rooms. Liz and the other fourth year Slytherins had been taken to a large empty classroom where all the desks had disappeared from. Since no one had any idea as to why they'd been called here, rumours of a practical Defense Against the Dark Arts pop-quiz rapidly began circulating amongst the children. Thankfully, it was Severus Snape who walked into the room and not Mad-Eye Moody, followed by the ever-so-creepy Argus Filch.

Elizabeth stood between Amir, who was eyeing Filch disdainfully, and Draco Malfoy, who had Pansy Parkinson latched onto his left arm. The dark professor moved to the front of the room and eyed everyone for a few moments before beginning to speak in his usual soft and contained voice, a voice that could draw anyone's attention.

"The Yule Ball has been a tradition of the Triwizard tournament since its nascence. On Christmas Eve night we and our guests gather in the Great Hall for well mannered... puerility." Snape said almost disdainfully "As representatives of the host school, I expect each and every one of you to put your best foot forward, and I mean this literally since the Yule Ball is first and foremost... a dance."

Groans emerged from the boys who were listening on to what Professor Snape was saying. However, the girls seemed more excited. The girls, save Elizabeth that is - she hadn't the faintest idea how to dance. She'd danced around crazily in hotel rooms, her bedroom or at the Weasley's house, but it wasn't actual dancing. It was more like lunacy, really.

"Silence." Snape demanded. Everyone fell silent "The House of Salazar Slytherin has commanded pride and respect of the wizard world for nearly ten centuries... I will not have you besmirching that name by behaving like a doltish, dimwitted display of dunderheads."

"Try saying that five times faster." Draco whispered quietly in Elizabeth's direction. The girl shook her head and chuckled

"Now, forgive the poetic air of these next words, but to dance... is to let the body breathe. Inside every girl - hopefully - is a swan longing to burst forth and take flight."

It was odd hearing her usually quite stoical professor talk about dancing which, to Ella, was something so pure and beautiful - two things she'd never imagined her professor talking about in her life. Yet, she recalled the words he spoke to the classroom on her first day at Hogwarts and it all made sense. He spoke with such eloquence about his work, it now seemed normal that he'd do the same for a subject this delicate.

Ellie looked over to a few girls; they seemed about ready to burst just as Snape said. However, it seemed they were dying to dance with 'the boy of their dreams' and be swept of their feet. She then turned to Pansy who was hungrily eyeing the blond beside her. Liz scoffed and turned to Draco.

"Something's about to burst out of Pansy but I don't think it's a swan." she whispered, making Draco snicker

"And inside every boy, a tiger prepared to pounce. Mrs. Evans will you join me."

Liz tensed up. Was she going to have to dance? Was she going to have to dance... with her professor? But she couldn't dance! Unless her lunacy was considered dancing.

Draco and Amir both softly pushed her forward so she was standing in the center of the room and in front of her Head of House. Ella's nerves were jumping all together and in different directions. In her building anxiety she constructed elaborate plans of how things could potentially go right, but still, the nagging voice in the back of her mind spoke of nothing but the doom ahead.

Snape politely held out his hand as one was supposed to do - this much she knew because of all of the Disney movies she'd watched. Quietly and hesitantly, she took his cold hand and he placed a hand on her left hip. Liz's right hand immediately went to the man's shoulder. A few wold whistles came from the crowd causing the girl to turn and glare.

"Mr. Filch." Snape said simply, and so Filch bent down the arm on the record player and a beautiful waltz song began to play

"Professor, I can't dance." Rose said barely above a whisper

"Simply follow my lead, Elizabeth." he replied equally as quiet

The girl blankly stared at her professor and blinked. It was the second time he'd ever called her by her first name. For some reason, it made her trust him even more than she already did. And so, Severus Snape began counting steps out-loud, demonstrating the steps to the other students, as he quite gracefully lead his favourite student around the room. She wasn't even thinking about her steps; she was following him, her nerves quite gone.

* * *

The day was quite nice; a slight breeze counteracted the effects of the burning hot sun, the trees were their usual vibrant green and the Giant Squid was happily swimming at the surface of the Black Lake, showering students with a well-liked spray of cool water.

Harry, Ron and Elizabeth were walking out in the courtyard on their way to a study period surveyed by none other than professor Snape (Liz didn't have to go, but she'd gets points subtracted if she didn't). Of course, Liz had tried to keep it quiet that she'd danced with her Head of House since that Skeeter woman would gobble it all up and write some preposterous story about the 'event'. Unfortunately, when you wanted something kept quiet, it traveled fast when you were at Hogwarts. Ella blamed Parkinson for that, since she'd glared at Ellie the whole time she and Draco were practising their dancing - Pansy had to dance with Crabbe.

Ella glanced to her left where Viktor Krum was training and a group of about a dozen girls were following him around, hoping that he'd ask one of them to the dance. Unfortunately for them, Elizabeth knew he'd planned on asking someone; Viktor had come to her for advice. She thought is was adorable that he wanted to do it right, and Rose wouldn't have let him ask her 'sister' to the Yule Ball if he didn't do it properly. Ron and Harry however, were still desperately trying to get dates. Liz thought it was quite pathetic actually.

"Why do they always have to travel in packs?" Harry sighed, observing multiple groups of girls "How are you supposed to get one alone to ask them?"

"Blimey Harry, you slayed a dragon!" Ron gasped "If you can't get a date, who can?"

"It's quite simple actually. You just have to go up to someone, ask them if you can speak privately, then pop the question." Liz said nonchalantly

"Yeah, well, I think I'd take the dragon instead."

"Besides, you're one to talk - you haven't got a date either."

"Who cares? If someone doesn't ask me, I'll ask someone."

"And who would you ask?" a familiar voice came from behind

The trio of friends turned around, only to be met with the sharp grey eyes and white-blond hair of Draco Malfoy. It was odd that Crabbe and Goyle weren't by his side, pretending to be his bodyguards. Ron and Harry's gazes instantly hardened and they stepped forward protectively, as if to shield Ellie from the swine they thought Draco was.

"For once in my life Potter, Weasley, I'm not looking for a fight." the blond said to everyone's surprise "I just want to talk to Ella."

"Why?" Harry asked sternly

"Well that's none of your damn business, is it Scarhead?"

"Piss off, Malfoy." Ron said rudely

"After I speak with Ella."

"Quit calling her-"

"Harry. Calm down - I'll live."

"Fine. Just don't be late for the study period - Snape's surveying."

With a nod, Ellie turned away from the two boys who stayed on the spot for a few minutes and glared before also retreating towards their class. Elizabeth sighed and looked up at Draco, irritated about her brother's behaviour. She could very well talk to whomever she wished to. In her annoyed state, she failed to notice that Malfoy was almost in the same state she was when she had to dance with her professor: nervous. Draco was absently picking at his nails, shifting on his feet and couldn't look at anything for more than a few seconds.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Well, actually, I uh... I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

* * *

Rose had gotten to the extra study period on time, just like Harry and Ron were hoping. She greeted her Head of House with a small smile and a nod and sat down beside Hermione, facing the two boys. With one small look, Elizabeth knew what her 'sister' was thinking. She winked at her, to which Hermione replied with an eye roll and a smile.

The two boys obviously didn't understand the girls' non-verbal communication and continued their homework, occasionally looking up and around at the girls who were still available to ask to the Yule Ball - they hadn't shut up about it yet.

"This is mad." Ron sighed in Harry's direction "At this rate, we'll be the only ones in our year without dates."

Severus Snape, hearing Weasley speak, calmly and quietly walked by simply to smack Ron over the head with a thin textbook. Ron continued speaking when Snape had left.

"Well, us and Neville."

"But then again, he can take care of himself." Harry added

"It might interest you to know that Neville's already got someone." Hermione said, scribbling down in her notebook

"Really? Good for him." Liz smiled, changing a few things in her potions textbook

"Now I'm really depressed..." Ron sighed, dejected

Beside Elizabeth, Fred had scribbled down a note and handed it to her. He asked her to pass it to Ron, but she didn't give it to him until she read what was on it: "GET A MOVE ON OR ALL THE GOOD ONES WILL HAVE GONE!" Ron glared at his brother.

"Well, who're you taking?" he wispered

"Me?" Fred asked

Ron nodded, and Fred smiled. He crumpled up a piece of paper and threw it over to Angelina Johnson, a very pretty dark-skinned Gryffindor, whom Elizabeth knew because she played on her house's Quidditch team. The ball of paper hit her arm and she sighed, raising her head towards Fred.

"Do you want to come to the ball with me?" Fred whispered

"Yeah, all right, then." the girl smiled after a few seconds of pondering

"See? That's how it's done."

He winked at Ellie, who rolled her eyes and smiled before she continued to scribble down improvements in the potions book. Ron then gasped, realisation suddenly hitting him like a ton of bricks.

"Hey, Hermione... You're a girl."

"Oh, well spotted." the girl said sharply

"Come on - it's one thing for a bloke to show up alone. But for a girl it's just sad."

"Ronald Weasley!" Elizabeth whispered harshly, earning her a glare from Snape

"I won't be going alone, because believe or not someone's asked me." Hermione growled, getting up and handing her homework to Snape who took it briskly. She then came back and whispered: "And I said yes!"

Hermione stormed off, causing a few heads to turn in her direction. Elizabeth just laughed at the two boys. She then finished writing her last sentence in her notebook and got up to hand it in. When she came back, Ron wasn't done.

"Elizabeth-"

"Stop it right there, Ron - that's my sister."

"Thanks, Harry." Rose chuckled "Besides, I've got a date as well."

"Bloody hell..."


	63. Magic Works

Elizabeth had been quite irritable these past few days, for quite a few reasons. Ron and Harry kept whining about themselves not having dates, but never actually tried to get a date. Harry had once tried to ask Cho Chang, a Ravenclaw he seemed to fancy, but she too had gotten a date beforehand. Ron also tried and failed once, violently asking Fleur Delacour then running off before she could give him an answer. Naturally, both boys blamed the girls for their dateless problem. Liz had had enough and hinted the Patil twins, Padma and Parvati, that the boys were interested - she had no idea how it worked out.

Not only were Ron and Harry annoying her, but Hermione was too. It was about two weeks before the Yule Ball and all the Gryffindor could talk about was what she was going to wear to the event. Ella had never seen her 'sister' in a more girly state in her life. Questions about colours, makeup and shoes were impeding Hermione from thinking straight - thankfully it wasn't taking a toll on her grades. But it was taking a toll on Elizabeth. Finally, after much pestering, Liz agreed to go to Hogsmeade and look for dresses with her 'sister'. She'd have to do it anyway at some point, why not get it over with?

Gladrags Wizardwear in Hogsmeade had filled half their store with dress robes for boys, and dresses for girls just for the occasion. The boys' clothing all resembled each-other, save the few cooky exceptions that were similar to Ron's "dress". The dresses however were different in every shape and form; colours ranged from beet red to onyx, and lengths varied from prostitute short, to eighteenth century excessive.

It was all enough to make the Slytherin gag. Since her first year at Hogwarts, Elizabeth had shown her true colours as a tomboy, preferring oversized jumpers and jeans full of holes which almost made her look homeless, rather than the more feminine clothes Mr. and Mrs. Granger used to buy for her. Wearing a dress was the ultimate disgrace to her tomboy appearance - she'd have to ditch the dingy tennis shoes and strap on a pair of heels. Hermione however, seemed quite at home browsing through the multitude of dress racks.

"What colour do you think would suit me best, Liz?" Hermione said, fingers running over dozens of frilly dresses

"I don't know." Liz sighed

"Come on, Lizzie! Help me out, and I'll help you!"

"Fine. Look at me... I'd go either blue or pink."

"Blue or pink? Well that narrows it down at least." Hermione said, setting down a few green and red dresses "Frilly or not?"

"I think a little frill is in order for you." Ella chuckled as she held up a dress in front of her 'sister' "Try this one on."

Hermione nodded and went to the back to change into the dress. Elizabeth followed quietly, waiting outside the door for the Gryffindor to come out and show her. When Hermione came out, the Slytherin couldn't help but smile. The dress barely touched the floor, allowing her to see Hermione's big brown boots peeking through. It was a blush pink dress with short flowing sleeves and a skirt that ruffled in all the right areas. At least it was tight around her middle and chest area so it wasn't overboard on the frills, like Elizabeth had hoped.

"You have an amazing eye for dresses for someone who seems to hate them." Hermione chuckled, looking at herself in a mirror

"Don't broadcast that, please." Liz smiled

"Of course not... but it is the right colour?"

"There was a periwinkle-blue one over there. Do you want to try that one on?"

"Definitely."

Elizabeth went over to the racks of dresses and took out the blue dress she'd spotted earlier. However, before she returned to her 'sister', the girl spotted Pansy Parkinson on the other side of the room holding out a sickly pink dress which seemed like one giant ruffle. Liz sneered and pretended to gag, then went back to Hermione who was back in the changing room and awaiting the second dress. Once again, Hermione came out of the cubicle-sized room and twirled, showcasing the floaty material of the dress.

"That's the one."

"You think?"

"I don't think; I know."

"Well, if you know, you know nothing." an annoyingly high-pitched voice said from behind

"Parkinson, I can tell that my 'sister' will look better than you in that than you will in that petty excuse of a dress you have there." Elizabeth growled, turning to face her fellow Slytherin

"Pink suits me." Pansy countered

"That kind of pink only suits a pig, so maybe you're right for once."

"Why you little-"

"Parkinson, leave them." a male voice sounded

With a glance to her left, Pansy left the two girls alone with an indignant look on her face. Amir slowly came into Hermione and Elizabeth's view.

"Oh, hi, Amir." Liz said, shifting on her feet

"Hello, Rose." the Egyptian smiled "Searching for a dress with your sister, I see."

"Yeah, I think Hermione's found the one too."

"I have, thanks to you." Hermione smiled

"Oh, shut it 'Mione." Ella sighed with a smile

"Well, I must say that I am quite jealous of your date miss Granger; you look quite lovely."

"Oh, uh, thank you." the Gryffindor smiled sheepishly

"Okay, loverboy, get out of here - we've still got stuff to do."

"Of course. Have fun, girls." Amir smiled and left to pay for the dress robes he was carrying

"Who was that?" Hermione said once she came out of the cubicle, changed back into her regular clothes

"Who? The guy that saved us from Parkinson?" Ella asked, rifling through a random dress rack. Hermione nodded "That's Amir Ferran... The guy I call Ramses?"

"Oh! You never told me he was nice... or cute." the Gryffindor giggled

"Would you stop it? Help me with this dress crap, instead of gossiping about my best mate."

"Oh, all right. But he is cute..."

* * *

The identity of Elizabeth's date for the Yule Ball was a mystery to Terence Higgs, Marcus Belby and the rest of the Hogwarts student body. And it was a mystery to Elizabeth why at least a dozen other boys had asked her to be their date for the Yule Ball. According to herself, she was average looking and not that interesting. Yet to others, her sleek dark hair, emerald green eyes and fair skin were like a dream. The way she played Quidditch was amazing, and the way she'd explain difficult school assignments or talk about something she knew in depth was fascinating to almost everyone who knew her. Just like her best friend Amir, Ella had the uncanny ability of drawing people in without even noticing. She was far from plain, but maybe it was the fact she didn't realise she was pretty that made her so desirable to others.

Two weeks had passed rather rapidly and it was finally Christmas Eve. In a few hours, Elizabeth and every other student fourth year and up would be attending the highly anticipated Yule Ball. Music was already playing in the Great Hall which was decorated with the usual twelve towering Christmas trees, festoons of holly, mistletoe and many other Christmas-oriented accents. Real live fairies flew around the trees and around the castle giving the students the impressions that miniature stars were lighting up the school corridors. Everlasting icicles were applied to the banisters and doorways of every room in the castle, and warm, dry snow fell from the Enchanted Ceiling of the Great Hall and into people's hair, flecking it with white crystals that melted away instantly.

Since Elizabeth had no female friends in her house, she decided it would be better if she prepared for the Yule Ball in Hermione's dorm room which she shared with a few other girls - they were already downstairs. Ron and Harry were in their own dorm, fussing over the Weasley's dress robes which looked even more awful once put on. Hermione was already dressed and was now attempting to battle with her hair using Sleekeasy's Hair Potion; so far it was working. Once that was done and both girls had put on their shoes, they rushed to the boys' dorm only to find that they'd already left.

Both girls headed down the spiral staircase, the moving staircases and the stairs down to the entrance hall quickly as to not be late, especially Elizabeth since she and her date had to perform an opening dance alongside the other Champions. Heads turned every time the girls passed by someone whether it be a girl or a boy, or even a couple; the 'sisters' looked beautiful. Unfortunately, Ella's shoe kept getting loose, so she decided to place a shrinking charm on it, allowing Hermione to go on ahead without her. Liz could see up ahead that Harry, Ron and the Patil twins were speechless at the fact that Hermione looked so beautiful and was preparing herself to dance with none other than Viktor Krum.

Her shoes fit perfectly at last, and so, the fourth year Slytherin went down the small staircase and into the room where the other Champions were waiting, trying not to step on the hem of her dress. Immediately, people stopped and stared - especially Harry, who couldn't believe her tomboy sister cleaned up so well. The plum coloured dress she was wearing was sleek and touched the ground, barely allowing for anyone to see the simple white shoes she was wearing. The neckline was high, only permitting the girl to wear a diamond choker, but the back was open all the way to the small dimples at the bottom of her spine, and fell to the ground in small ruffles. Teardrop diamond earrings peaked out of her braided up-do, which was curled to perfection for the occasion, and her emerald eyes popped against the plum of her dress, the soft pink of her lips and the onyx of her eyeliner.

"Are you ready for the opening dance, miss Evans?" McGonagall asked as Liz reached the bottom of the staircase

"Ready as I'll ever be." the girl smiled

"She looks beautiful." she heard one of the Parvati twins whisper beside her

"Yeah, she does." Ella recognized her brother's voice

Elizabeth moved forward slowly, trying to spot her date in the crowd. After a few seconds, she felt someone grab her hand and spin her around gracefully, making the skirt of her dress float just above her ankles. A few murmurs, whispers and gasps quietly filled the room as everyone saw who the Girl-Who-Lived's date was. But there was no time for questions as loud waltz music soon began to play and all the Champions and their dates made their way to the center of the dance floor.

With all the practise they had had, all the Champion couples' movements - save Harry's for some reason - flowed with a dazzling grace that took away almost everyone's breath. People in the crowd tried to sneak a peak at Elizabeth and the boy who'd had the privilege of asking her to Yule Ball, observing the way they danced in perfect symbiosis. Even though Fleur Delacour was part-Veela, all eyes were glued to Hermione Granger and Elizabeth Evans. Their entire beings moved with a purposeful clarity, and their faces shone with a dazzling smile directed at their partners. It became painfully obvious that these two girls were going to be the talk of the school for the rest of the Tournament.

Soon, others joined in: Dumbledore with McGonagall, Hagrid and Madame Maxime, Filch and Mrs. Norris. Mad-Eye Moody sat grumpily in a corner of the room, drinking something that definitely wasn't pumpkin juice, and Severus Snape stood beside the orchestra observing the group of people engaging in their "well-mannered puerility", goblet of wine set aside.

A few formal dances were enjoyed by all the couples: Fleur Delacour and Roger Davies, Cho Chang with Cedric Diggory, Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom. Dinner was served at tables of six, featuring only the best Christmas dinner one could ever hope of having, and was followed by desserts one shouldn't have if on a diet; it was a good thing Elizabeth wasn't concerned about her weight like other girls.

Eventually, formal dancing was over and the orchestra gave its place to a rock band named The Weird Sisters, fronted by Jarvis Cocker of Pulp. Cool!. The crowd was jumping impractically in their fancy outfits, and screaming the lyrics to every song. Hermione and Elizabeth danced wildly together, momentarily forgetting about their dates who stood off to the side, wildly amused. Harry, Ronald and their dates however, were sitting some distance away looking positively miserable.

"Hot isn't it?" Hermione smiled, crashing down in a chair beside the two boys

"Our dates have gone to get us drinks. Care to join us?" Elizabeth said, imitating her 'sister'

"No. We'd not care to join you and your dates." Ron said bitterly

"What's got your wand in a knot?" Hermione asked

"You two are fraternising with the enemy."

"Oh, please, Ronald. Forget about rivalries for once and enjoy yourself. Besides, you're the one who wanted Krum's autograph so badly." Liz laughed

"Don't forget that the whole point of the tournament is about magical cooperation - to make friends." Hermione added

"I think they've got a bit more than friendship on their minds." Ron scoffed

Angry, both girls walked off and found their dates. Opting to dance and be happy rather than listen to Ron rain on their parade. Elizabeth hated that Ron couldn't get past the fact that Hermione and her could go to the dance with whomever they wanted. After all, Hermione and Harry seemed to be okay with Ella's date, and Ella and Harry were definitely okay about Viktor Krum and Hermione - so what was the bid deal? The Slytherin had no idea. Later, Ron was at it again, pestering the 'sisters' about their choices in dates.

"They're using you." he said

"How dare you!" Hermione growled

"Besides, we can take care of ourselves." Ellie added

"Doub it." Ron sighed

"What? It that what you think?" Rose asked, furious

"Yeah, that's what I think."

"You know the solution then, don't you." Hermione continued, cross

"Go on." Ron insisted

"Next time there's a ball, pluck up the courage and ask me before somebody else does, and not as a last resort."

"Well, that's completely off the point - Harry?"

Harry suddenly walked up, seemingly coming out of nowhere.

"Where have you been?" Ella asked angrily, then threw her arms up in defeat "You know what? Nevermind! Off to bed, both of you!"

"You're not my mother." Ron said, indignantly

"Go. Now!"

The two boys walked away, but not before Elizabeth and Hermione heard Ron pass a mean comment about Hermione. The Gryffindor witch then fell to the ground, dejected, tears falling down her cheeks. She angrily took her shoes off and yelled:

"Ron, you spoil everything!"

Elizabeth sat down beside her sister and hugged her, cradling Hermione in her arms as she sang a soft song to her. Eventually, the tears subsided and she was able to put her shoes back on and leave with Viktor, a smile on her face. The Slytherin witch sighed and headed back towards the dance floor where the band had decided to play one last song; a slower song called Magic Works.

"How's your sister?" a familiar voice said

"She's all right." Liz replied

"And you?"

"I'll live. Ron might not if he keeps up this kind of attitude; Hermione might kill him."

"Why am I not surprised."

There was a moment of silence between Elizabeth and her Yule Ball partner. She took the moment to observe the remaining couples that were here, dancing slowly to the tune. The only teachers remaining were Snape and McGonagall who were quietly surveying the Hall. The boy took Elizabeth's hand.

"Come on, one last dance."

"You know how I feel about dresses and dancing." Rose told her date

"But you're a great dancer and look damn fine in that dress." he replied cheekily

"Shut up."

"Only if you stop being stubborn and dance with me."

"Fine. But only because you won't shut up; I don't want to hear you complain all evening."

With a chuckle, the boy lead Ella by the hand to the dance floor. He calmly put one of his hands on the girl's hip and gently laced his fingers through Ella's. The two swayed calmly together for a moment, in silence, before Elizabeth unconsciously laid her head on her date's chest. Soon, her hands were wrapped around his middle and his rested on her lower back, both students still dancing in content silence.

"Thank you." Elizabeth whispered

"For what?"

"For not being a complete dick, tonight."

"What can I say? The great Draco Malfoy is full of surprises."


	64. The Second Task

It was the same dream again, only different. The same old and creepy house was there, and it seemed once more that Elizabeth was walking through its corridors. This time however, the old Muggle caretaker wasn't present, yet the two men she'd seen last time were still there. Wormtail looked pathetic as ever with his beyond shabby robes and his rat-like demeanor. The other man, who was taller and slimmer than Peter Pettigrew, was also there, looking completely demented.

Elizabeth's body moved forward of its own accord, letting the the girl see for the first time what was in the room she'd been dreaming about for months. The taller man was showing his left arm to someone or something sitting in the armchair, his Dark Mark almost as black as ink. The same quiet raspy voice was there as well, but it had new things to say that terrified the young Slytherin witch.

"Ah yes, the time is close now." it said, then paused for a moment "Elizabeth, dear! At last! Step aside Wormtail, so I can give our guest a proper greeting..."

But as the mousy man moved out of the way to reveal whatever - or whomever - was in that chair, Ella woke up and sat straight up in bed, body and sheets drenched in cold sweat. Her heart was beating hard and fast, and her muscles were clenched as if ready to receive a large blow. The girl ran her hands over her face and through her hair, then gazed at her surroundings. Not Daphne, not Rachel, not even Millicent had woken up following Ellie's rude awakening. She sighed and pulled herself out of bed, deciding it would be wise to reply to at least one of the many letters Remus had sent her the past few weeks. Plus, it might just calm her down.

 _Dear Remus,_

 _Sorry for not writing to you sooner - I've been a bit preoccupied by school, the Tournament and other things that need not be mentioned._

 _After battling dragons and rescuing a golden egg, I managed to figure out that the Second Task involves the Selkies of the Black Lake - with Draco's help of course. But I have no idea how and where to listen to the damn screeching sound it makes when you open it. Any bright ideas, professor Lupin?_

 _Don't think for a second that I'm only scared, worried and nervous about the whole Triwizard tournament thing - I'm having fun too. Hermione and I particularly enjoyed the Yule Ball yesterday. We danced, sang at the top of our lungs, ate too much blueberry pie - but nothing compares to laughing at Ron's dress robes (see attached picture to cringe)!_

 _I'd like to mention the fact that I just woke up from the same nightmare I've been having for months now. This time though, the caretaker wasn't there and I saw someone... I saw someone with a Dark Mark on their arm. It was getting quite dark too. Do you know what that means? Maybe I'll ask Harry about it._

 _With love,_

 _Ella_

It took Elizabeth a few seconds to realise that she'd signed the letter with the nickname Draco gave her. The girl merely shrugged, not wanting to ruin the letter by crossing it out. Besides, it wasn't like Remus was going to notice the change, and she liked it anyway. Ellie sealed the envelope with the Slytherin crest seal and got dressed just before heading out to the Owlery. She decided that, since it was Christmas, she'd dress up a little. Plus, the girl inside her was still stuck at the Yule Ball. Stuck on the way she looked in the mirror, stuck with the greatest time she'd spent with her sister in a long time, stuck on dancing the Champions dance with Draco Malfoy. Elizabeth suddenly felt odd, as if something were sitting on her chest. It wasn't unpleasant, it was just unfamiliar.

After she had posted the letter using one of the many school owls, Ella went back to the common room to wait for Amir, who wanted to eat breakfast with her and open presents like they had the previous year. She dropped onto one of the sofas and waited, trying to take her mind off the nightmare she'd just had by thinking of ways to submerge her golden egg and properly hear the song that would play. Amir arrived some time later, clad in his Christmas attire: red shirt, elf slippers and the same stupid Santa hat he wore last year.

"Well don't you look dashing." Elizabeth chuckled

"Thank you, madam." he smiled and mock curtsied, then sat down next to the girl "Wait... You are wearing a dress?"

"Yeah. It's Christmas, so screw it, right?"

Amir chuckled and went over to the Slytherin's black Christmas tree in the center of the Common Room. Just like last year, it was decorated with silver and green accents, bright white lights shimmering in the dim space. Tons of gifts were perfectly wrapped with the use of magic and placed under the Christmas tree, waiting to be opened by every single Slytherin. The Egyptian muttered Accio gifts and a few of them zoomed into his arms, making others fall out of their neat piles.

From her brother and Ron, Elizabeth had gotten the usual and much appreciated sweets from Honeydukes; she ate a few while she opened the rest of her gifts. Hermione had gotten her a copy of Practical Defense Against the Dark Arts, a book she'd wanted for a while so she could practise for the Tournament, if a hex was ever needed. The Weasley twins got her trick wands to give to her fellow champions (save Harry) and see how they'd react, and multiple mince pies with the usual knit sweater came from Mrs. Weasley. Unlike last year, Ella hadn't gotten a gift from an unknown party which reminded her that she barely ever took that necklace off.

At breakfast, she was surprised to see that the four tables were still all there and not merged into one as usual. Most students had stayed at school for the holidays due to the excitement of the Tournament and the company of foreign students. Rose was also not expecting the looks that she was getting upon entering the Great Hall. At first, she thought it was because she was wearing a dress - something she almost never did. But then she heard what the people were saying.

"That's her."

"Are the rumours true?"

"Didn't you see her last night?"

"Do you think she and Draco are dating?"

That one somehow annoyed Elizabeth.

"Of course we're not dating, you twit." Ella said sharply to the younger Hufflepuff

"Sorry, it's just-"

"It's just what?"

"The way you two were acting towards each other..." the young girl said quietly, visibly afraid that the older Slytherin was going to hex her

"What way? We went to the Yule Ball as friends." Elizabeth said coldly, almost wishing what she said wasn't true

"Didn't look like it."

Rose turned on her heel and was face to face with Ron, Harry and Hermione. The Hufflepuff immediately ran away, hoping to avoid further confrontation. So did Amir, who told his friend he'd be saving her a seat at the Slytherin table before he headed in its direction.

"Excuse me?" Elizabeth said in a warning tone; it was Christmas, not a time for confrontation

"You heard me, Evans."

"Oh, I'm Evans now? That's just great. Can we have this conversation tomorrow, or like... never?"

"No. We can't have this conversation like tomorrow." Ron said mockingly

"Watch your tone, Weasley. I don't feel like getting angry, today." Rose warned

"And neither do we." Hermione reasoned "We just... we just couldn't help but hear the rumours."

"What rumours? That I'm dating Draco?"

"Well, yes."

"Well, don't worry your pretty little heads; we're not dating. But even if we were, its none of your damn business, now is it?"

"Of course it is!" Harry interjected "You're their friend and my sister; we care if you get hurt."

"And you think Draco's going to hurt me?" Ellie scoffed

"Well, he's vile, cruel and-"

"What is it going to take to get it through your thick skulls!? He's not like that with me!"

"Maybe not now, but he will be!" Ron said "Maybe it was him who conjured the Dark Mark at the World Cup! Ever think of th-"

Without a second thought, and before she could stop herself, Elizabeth's right arm swung out and her fist collided with Ron's jaw. He stumbled back and gaped at the girl. Yes she had hexed people before, but she'd never physically assaulted someone, let alone her friend. Ella didn't know what had come over her. But one thing was for sure, she never accepted people insulting anyone she even remotely cared about. But insulting Draco Malfoy in front of her was like insulting God in front of a devout Catholic. The Slytherin took another step forward, angry tears now falling from her emerald green eyes.

"For your information, Weasley, Draco didn't conjure the stupid mark. He was too busy saving my bloody life."

"But you said-"

"I LIED!" Elizabeth bellowed, causing every head in the Great Hall to turn towards the quartet "Believe it or not, you three are wrong about Draco. He might be an arrogant prat with you, but not me. And I'll be damned if I let you insult him right in front of me."

"Liz, come on... You're overreacting." Harry said calmly, but you could tell that he was starting to lose his patience

"Am I, really? Because last time I checked, I wasn't the one accusing someone of practising illegal magic! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to eat breakfast."

"Don't walk away from me, Elizabeth."

"Too late, I'm already gone."

"Fine then. Consider yourself our enemy!" Ron added angrily

"It would be my greatest pleasure. Besides, I don't want to hang out with people like you, Weaselbee."

* * *

 _Dear Ella,_

 _Since my father wanted me home for the holidays, I've decided to send you a Christmas letter as well as a gift, because what kind of Yule Ball date or friend would I be if I didn't?_

 _I found it the other day looking through stuff in the Mansion (the wonders you could find in here) and decided you ought to have it. The ring was my grandmother's, and well my mother doesn't wear it, so I want you to have it._

 _Happy Christmas,_

 _Draco Malfoy_

 _PS: Don't tell anyone I actually like the dumb socks you got me_

* * *

 _Dear Elizabeth,_

 _I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying yourself and not only... freaking out? And if this reaches you in time, Happy Christmas._

 _As for your Triwizard Tournament dilemma, I do happen to have some "bright ideas". You could always go to the Black Lake at an odd hour, but there's a Prefects bathroom on the fifth floor hospital corridor and it has an enormous bathtub inside; you could open it there. However, you'll require a password._

 _About your nightmare, I highly recommend talking to professor Dumbledore about it. It seems as if it's only getting worse, and as I am not there to talk about it in detail, the Headmaster is someone you can trust with this kind of thing._

 _Also, since when do you sign your letters as "Ella"? It's a nice nickname, I've just never heard you use it before._

 _With love,_

 _R. J. Lupin_

* * *

Once again, Elizabeth was living up to the story Rita Skeeter had published a few weeks back. She had taken the time to get dressed, grab a few potion bottles, her wand and her golden egg before setting out into the darkness of Hogwarts castle and towards the fifth floor. How she wished she was able to use her brother's cloak - it would make avoiding Filch or his cat a lot more simple. Instead, since she and her brother hadn't spoken since their argument, Elizabeth used her invisibility charm and potions to get around unseen.

'Pine fresh' was the password for the Prefects bathroom, which she had learned by eavesdropping on a few Ravenclaw Prefects a few days back. She uttered it quietly to the statue of Boris the Bewildered and it moved aside, allowing Elizabeth to move enter the special bathroom. One side of the bathroom was lined with toilet stalls. Opposite to that was a large swimming pool-like bathtub, sunk into the floor, with gold jewel-like taps surrounding it. Bath oils, powders and salts lined the sides, as well as every kind of shampoo and conditioner known to wizard-kind.

Looking at the tub, Ella thought that it would take forever to fill up, but once Elizabeth turned on the taps it filled up faster than expected. The Slytherin undressed and slipped into the warm water of the tub, forgetting to resist pressing all the taps and drowning herself in scented suds. After a few moments of swimming in the deep bathtub, Rose sat down on one of its benches and grabbed the golden egg from her bag, putting it in the water beside her. Just as she was about to take a deep breath and dive underwater to listen to the song, the Slytherin heard a familiar giggle.

"Myrtle?"

"Long time no see, Elizabeth." the ghost said, floating around the room

"How are you? Well, except dead of course." Liz smiled

"As good as one can be when she's confined to the sewers, I suppose. Oh, I was circling a blocked drain the other day and could swear I saw a bit of Polyjuice potion... Not being a bad girl again, are you Lizzie?"

"Polyjuice potion? No, I haven't touched that since second year. But still, that's odd... Anyway, if you don't mind I'm going to listen to this song."

"Clever, aren't you? It took that handsome one, Cedrid, a while to figure out what to do with that thing."

"Of course; he's not me."

Elizabeth smiled and took a deep breath, diving into the soapy water. She tried to open her eyes, but the soap was burning, so she fumbled for the button for a few seconds until a beautiful voice began to sing:

 _Come seek us where our voices sound_

 _We cannot sing above the ground_

 _And while you're searching ponder this_

 _We've taken what you'll sorely miss_

 _An hour long you'll have to look_

 _And to recover what we took_

 _But past an hour, the prospect's black_

 _Too late, it's gone, it won't come back_

Ella came back up and closed the egg, momentarily hearing the Mermish screeches. Now that she'd heard the song, a few of those screeches sounded like words to the Mermish apprentice. Wiping the suds from her face, she contemplated what she'd just heard.

"Come seek us where our voices sound... The Black Lake, for sure. We've taken what you'll sorely miss... What could the Merpeople could have taken?" Liz mumbled to herself

"Very good! Took Cedric ages to riddle it out." Myrtle giggled

"But Myrtle, what will I 'sorely miss'? I know I'll have an hour to look for it underwater... but what have they taken?"

"I don't know. I only know what you tell me."

"But past an hour, the prospect's back... Too late, it's gone, it won't come back! Myrtle, that means that whatever they took won't survive long underwat- No... you don't think they'd take a person, do you?"

"You fought dragons last time, how is that so bizarre?"

* * *

Only a week remained before the second task. Speed wasn't an issue since Ellie was a great swimmer, but she hadn't the faintest idea how to stay alive underwater for more than an hour. She knew the bubble-head charm, but it failed to work quite often. She'd have to find another way.

There were enough books in the Slytherin common room fulfill the desire of the hungriest bookworm, but not a student whose needs were more extreme. Instead, Elizabeth had enlisted Amir's help to search for anything useful in the Hogwarts library. The Egyptian was rifling through Herbology books, and Ella was looking through just about everything else.

"You should be the one to look through these Herbology books, Rose. I am not the Potions or Herbology expert." Amir chuckled

"Aren't you learning anything, though?" Rose laughed

"Yes, actually. Did you know that there is a wizard in Nepal who is growing gravity resistant trees?"

"That's nice, Amir, but it's not what we're looking for. Now, if there's a Tibetan turnip that will let me breathe underwater for an hour, then sign me up."

"Well, I do not know anything about turnips, but it says here that you could always use Gillyweed."

"Gillyweed? Do I have to eat it?" Elizabeth cringed

"It appears that way." Amir laughed

"Well, if there's another way I'll take it, but that's a great backup pla- Oh! I've got it!"

* * *

After frantically putting her bathing suit on, Elizabeth ran over to the stands where the rest of the Champions were waiting. Now whomever had the brilliant idea of going swimming in the Black Lack in the middle of February was, according to Liz, a severe case at St-Mungos... in the psychiatric section. It was windy, cold and grey - the optimal conditions for staying indoors and in front of the fireplace.

That morning, she'd tried to find Draco who would usually cheer her up or try to make her less nervous, but he was nowhere to be found and neither was Amir. The previous day she'd gone to see professor Sprout and asked if she had any Gillyweed; she didn't. Snape however, came to her rescue and sent her a jar by owl the morning of the task. What would she do without that man?

With the Gillyweed and her wand attached with a leather cord around her waist, Elizabeth replayed the steps to her success in her head, making sure the spell she was going to use was clear in her mind. As Dumbledore began to speak loudly with the sonorus charm, she took off her robe, exposing her fair skin to the cold and hundreds of pairs of eyes. A few wolf whistles sounded, but Liz was too stressed, cold and scared to care about her dignity.

"Welcome to the Second Task! Early this morning, something was stolen from each of our Champions, a treasure of sorts. These five treasures, one for each Champion, now lie at the bottom of the Black Lake." he said. Elizabeth knew this much already "In order to win, each Champion need only find their treasure and return to the surface. Simple enough, except for this: they will have only an hour to do so, and one hour only. After that, they'll be on their own."

Elizabeth took her wand out of her makeshift belt and concentrated on the spell running through her head. She hoped it would work with all her might; she'd need to save a damn person from the murky depths of the Black Lake. Just before the cannon fired, Elizabeth pointed the wand to herself and muttered the spell so that, when the cannon did fire, she was already diving into the water. Gasps and cheers rang through the crowd when they saw Ella's transformation. Unlike Krum, her transfiguration was complete. When the tip of her toes left the stand they immediately fused together and became charcoal and gold fins, her pale skin turned ash grey and gills grew from the sides of her neck so Liz wasn't choking on water anymore.

Unlike her brother, Elizabeth wasted no time to show off her transformation. She swam rapidly towards the bottom of the lake, not taking the time to observe the colourful fish and other sea creatures surrounding her. To her left was a patch of tall seaweed which she avoided, knowing that Grindylows lurked in there, waiting to ambush. It seemed that Fleur Delacour didn't know this, because she went in and, a few seconds later, she screamed and got captured. Ella ignored her and swam on, eventually coming up to something that resembled an underwater city. Amongst the ruins swam multiple Selkies, both male and female, their green scaly bodies shimmering in the cloudy waters of the Black Lake. Some of them carried spears and looked threatening, probably ordered to attack if a Champion did something they weren't supposed to. A few Selkies swam by Elizabeth as she went closer to the ruins, curiously looking at her as if she were an animal in a zoo; she had transfigured herself into a Mermaid, not a Selkie.

Up ahead, Ella spotted figures floating in the water. The first was a familiar beacon of red hair belonging to Ronald Weasley; he was Harry's hostage of course. Hermione was beside him, most likely for Krum. Cho Chang was there for Cedric. A young blonde girl floated there as well, presumably for Fleur Delacour. And at the end, tied by the ankles to a nearby rock, was Draco Malfoy. Ellie's heart began to pound even harder than before now that she realised that he was in serious trouble. All five hostages seemed to be in a rather deep sleep, their eyes closed and bubbles coming out of their nostrils - they were alive. Rapidly grabbing her wand, Elizabeth made a slashing movement at the ropes binding the young Malfoy, which cut them, and grabbed him, swimming to the surface as fast as she could.

Upon breaking the surface, Draco woke up and the crowd cheered. The now mermaid smiled at her "treasure", happy that he was awake and well - it was odd breathing above the water with gills. Liz looked around and saw that she was the only Champion at the surface, save the captured Fleur Delacour. Her smile grew and she cheered alongside the crowd, excited about her ranking. The girl lead Draco to the edge of the stage and helped him up.

Now it was time to show off. Rose dived down into the water than sped back up, flipping like a dolphin in mid-air. Soon, her spell wore off and her legs split back up, the water now feeling immensely cold against her skin. She dragged herself out of the water and was immediately wrapped up in a multitude of blankets, then Draco's arms.

"It was about time you saved my arse." Draco chuckled

"Yeah, you're welcome, Mr. Ungrateful." Liz laughed

"I just can't believe you transfigured yourself into a full-fledged mermaid!"

"I had to practise a lot, but seemed like the logical solution."

"You have no idea how complicated that is, Ella."

"Oh, I do." Rose smirked

"You know, you make a very pretty mermaid." Draco whispered in her ear, making the girl blush furiously

With a half-hearted smack on Draco's arm, Elizabeth watched the water as Cedric Diggory came up from the bottom of the lake, Cho Chang clinging tightly to him. Then it was Viktor Krum and Hermione, followed by Harry, Ron... and the little blonde girl? That's right, Fleur was "disqualified" because she got captured by Grindylows. Harry risked getting another hostage? That's why Liz wasn't in Gryffindor.

"Attention! Attention!" Dumbledore's voice boomed "The winner is... Miss Evans!"

Elizabeth, who was still wrapped up in blankets and Draco's arms, happily cheered alongside every other Slytherin and her "fans". Suddenly, the Selkie Chieftain rose to the surface and waved Dumbledore over - it was the blue creature that often swam past Ella's window. Liz strained her hearing to catch bits and pieces of the conversation which, to everyone, sounded like screeches and harsh raspy sounds. Dumbledore thanked the sea creature - who nodded in Ellie's direction before sinking back into the Black Lake - and began to speak again.

"The Chieftain tells me that Mr. Potter risked his life to save Gabrielle Delacour. As we both see it, he would have finished in second place were it not for his determination to help others." he said and Elizabeth rolled her eyes "The Chieftain and I have therefore agreed to award him just that! Second place will be awarded to Mr. Potter for outstanding moral fiber, creating a tie between him and Cedric Diggory."

"Outstanding moral fiber? More like attention seeking stubborness." Liz said snidely, to Draco's surprise

"Woah, what happened to you?" he asked, leading Liz away and into the castle "You never insult your brother."

"Yeah, well, things changed."

"Yeah? What did?"

"I did."


	65. Completely Unprepared

For once in her life, Elizabeth listened to an authority figure. Of course, Remus Lupin was more like a parental figure to her by now, but it didn't matter; she was taking his advice and going to see Headmaster Albus Dumbledore about her disturbing dreams.

It was just after lunch on Saturday, April 15, 1995 - almost two months after the Second Task and Remus' letter. Draco had left Elizabeth at the base of the gargoyle to Dumbledore's office, leaving her alone to meet the Headmaster. She hadn't told her friend why she was going to see Dumbledore, but he guessed it was something quite important if Elizabeth was uncomfortable talking about it.

"Acid Pops."

As soon as the password was uttered, the large gargoyle twisted to reveal a large spiral staircase, rising into the tower. Ella climbed on the first step and let herself be carried upwards. However, she was slightly knocked forward when someone forgot to stop, also going up to the Headmaster's office.

"Hey, watch it." the girl warned

"Sorry, Liz." said a familiar boy's voice

"Oh, it's you."

It was Harry who had decided to come up and see Dumbledore at the same time, on the same day. Why he was there, Ellie hadn't the faintest idea, but it seemed to be bothering him just as much as the girl's dreams were bothering her.

Upon coming up to the large, heavy wooden door, Elizabeth heard voices on the inside. Harry didn't seem to hear anything since he walked in front of his sister and opened the door. Immediately, all three pairs of eyes were on the siblings - Cornelius Fudge, Alastor Moody and Albus Dumbledore.

"Harry! Elizabeth! How good to see you two."

"We can come back later, professor." Ella said politely, her indifferent appearance unwavering

"Oh, not necessary Elizabeth; the Minister, Alastor and I are done." Dumbledore said softly "I'll be back in a moment - Minister, after you. Harry, Elizabeth, do feel free to indulge in a licorice snack in my absence, but I must warn you they're a little bit sharp."

Dumbledore then left with Cornelius Fudge and Mad-Eye Moody, leaving Harry and Elizabeth alone in the circular office. Harry walked over to the bowl of sweets and shoved his hand in, grabbing a handful of licorice candies. However, the bowl turned into a small creature which nipped at his hand.

"He did warn you that they were sharp." Liz said bluntly and highly amused

"You want one?"

Elizabeth shook her head, and Harry popped a candy into his mouth. Just then, a tall compartment in a nearby wall opened. Curious, Elizabeth moved closer and notice a large basin filled with something that resembled water, but it was neither liquid, solid or gaseous. The Slytherin racked her brain for information on what this could be. She came up with the possibility that Dumbledore was in possession of a Pensieve, an item that could allow someone to dump selected memories and re-watch them at will. But they were expensive and incredibly hard to come by, surely their Headmaster couldn't have one.

Ella leaned in closer to the stone basin. It seemed, to the girl, that someone or something was calling to her, calling her name. Just as her nose was about to touch the pale blue substance, Harry grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Bloody hell, Harry! What was that for?" she said angrily

"Do you even know what that is? Maybe it's dangerous." the boy argued

"Oh, please. Since when is brave and daring Gryffindor Harry afraid of a little blue light?"

"Fine then."

Harry shoved the rest of the candy that was in his hand, in his mouth and approached his sister. At the same time, both siblings look into the basin and get pulled in, their surroundings just as gaseous as the substance they'd put their heads in. Suddenly, Rose and Harry seemed to be falling endlessly. That was until they fell down, seated in a room where the walls had a red glow. Potter and Evans looked to their left; Dumbledore was sitting directly next to them.

"Professor?" Harry asked

Albus Dumbledore ignored him, something that wasn't usual for Harry who was used to having all of his questions answered by the Headmaster. Just then, the man seated on the other side of the siblings, Mad-Eye Moody, spoke to the professor in a deep voice.

"Dumbledore." he said curtly

The two men shook hands, their handshake going through Harry and Ella's bodies as if they were some kind of ghosts with no corporeal presence. Brother and sister, in that moment, forgot their problems with each other and exchanged a look; Harry's confused, Elizabeth's fascinated.

Soon after, all the voices in the room stopped as a large metal cage was raised from the floor at the center of the room. Igor Karkaroff was seated and chained to a heavy chair. He was looking up. Elizabeth followed the Durmstrang Headmaster's gaze, which fell upon Bartemius Crouch. The Slytherin looked around - they were in a Ministry court room.

"Igor Karkaroff, you have been brought here from Azkaban prison at your own request to present evidence to this counsel." Crouch began "Should you testimony prove consequential, Counsel may be prepared to order your immediate release. Until such time you remain, in the eyes of the Ministry, a convicted Death Eater. Do you accept these terms?"

"I do, sir." Karkaroff said

"What do you wish to present?"

"I have names, sir. There was a Rosier, Evan Rosier."

"Mr Rosier is dead." Crouch said simply

"Dead?" Karkaroff said, dumbfounded

"Yeah, took a piece of me with him though, didn't he?" Mad-Eye whispered to Dumbledore as he pointed his mechanical eye

"I didn't know." Karkaroff continued quietly

"If that is all the witness has to offer..." Crouch said

"No! No! There was Rookwood, he was a spy."

"Augustus Rookwood? Of the Department of Ministries."

"Yes, yes, the same." the Durmstrang insisted "He passed information to You-Know-Who from inside the Ministry itself."

"Very well, Counsel will deliberate. In the meantime, you will be returned to Azkaban."

"NO! WAIT, PLEASE!" Karkaroff yelled, terrified "I have more, please! Snape, Severus Snape."

Elizabeth didn't want to hear this and, without thinking she rose from her seat as angry as she'd ever been.

"THAT'S RUBBISH, YOU SWINE!" she bellowed

However, no one but her brother reacted - he rolled his eyes at his sister's outburst. It was as if she was invisible to them. Luckily for her - and Snape - Dumbledore rose and spoke.

"The counsel is very much aware that you have given evidence on this matter. Severus Snape was indeed a Death Eater. However, prior to Lord Voldemort's downfall he turned on him, spying for us at great personal risk." Dumbledore reasoned "Today, he's no more a Death Eater than I am."

"Take that, Karkaroff." Elizabeth muttered as she crossed her arms, satisfied

"It's a lie! Severus Snape remains faithful to the Dark Lord!"

"SILENCE!" Crouch said, hitting the gravel repeatedly with his little hammer "Unless the witness possesses any name of genuine consequence, this session is now concluded."

"Oh, no! No, no, no, no! I heard about one more."

"What's that?"

"The name..."

"Yes?"

"I know for a fact this person took part in the capture, and by means of the Cruciatus curse, torture of the Aurors Frank Longbottom and-"

"The name! Give me the wretched name!" Crouch bellowed, interrupting the Durmstrang

"Barty Crouch... Junior."

Immediately, all eyes fell upon a young man with a mop straw-blond hair, freckled skin and dark brown eyes. That was Barty Crouch Jr.? He was the man Ella saw in her dream a few days ago! He was the one with the Dark Mark, talking to You-Know-Who!

Then, in a blink of an eye, dozens of Ministry officials, on Crouch Senior's command, rose and gruffly took hold of the suspected Death Eater who looked disgusted.

"Get your filthy hands off me you pathetic little men." the young man said, struggling. He then hissed towards his father, a diabolical look on his face "Hello, father."

"You are no son of mine." Crouch Sr. said

And with a large yell from Bartemius Crouch Junior, Elizabeth and Harry felt as if they were being pushed out of the scene. Images swirled around them and soon they were back in Dumbledore's office. The siblings turned on their heels, hoping to go back to their original spots without the Headmaster noticing, but he was already sitting at his desk eyeing them.

"It was her idea, professor." Harry said immediately

"Oh, thanks for that, brother." Elizabeth said snidely, rolling her eyes

"Both of you, sit please." the professor said softly, as usual "Curiosity is not a sin, Harry, Elizabeth, but you should exercise caution. I'm sure, by now, Elizabeth, you know what that is?"

"It's a Pensieve, sir." the girl replied curtly

"What's that?" her brother asked

"A Pensieve, Harry, is very useful if you find your mind a wee bit stretched. It allows me to see what small things I've already seen. You see, I've searched and searched for something, some small detail. Something I might have overlooked, something that would explain why these terrible things have happened. Every time I get close to an answer it slips away - it's maddening."

"Sir, Bartemius Crouch Junior... his father sentenced him to Azkaban didn't he?" Liz asked, knowing the answer - Sirius Black had already told her and Harry

"I'm afraid he did, Elizabeth - destroyed Barty to do it. But he had no choice, the evidence against him was overwhelming." Dumbledore explained "Why do you ask?"

"Well, sir, that's why I'm here in the first place. You see, I had a dream about him - well, Harry and I both. It was in the summer, before school."

"In the dream I was - we were - in an old house and Voldemort was there, only he wasn't quite human. And Wormtail was there too, with Mr Crouch's son." Harry continued

"Have there been other dreams like this?" the Headmaster asked

Both siblings nodded.

"Sir, these dreams - what we see - you don't think it's actually happening, do you? Because these dreams seem very real... to me anyway."

"I think it unwise for you to linger over these dreams, Elizabeth, Harry. I think it's best that you simply... cast them away."

Dumbledore put the tip of his wand to his temple and pulled out a quivering blue-tinged string of memory out from his head. He walked over to the cupboard where the Pensive was found and put the little string of magic into a small phial. He turned to the siblings.

"Now, you two best be off. Wouldn't want to waste your Saturday, would you?"

With a curt nod, Elizabeth turned on her heels and exited the circular office, her brother close behind. She wanted to avoid any further contact with him, even though it wasn't Harry who had basically declared war on her. However, Weasley and Harry were so close they could be brothers, therefore he was the enemy by default. When she passed Hermione in the halls though, they'd smile and wave to each other - a lifelong sisterly bond wasn't going to be completely demolished because of some stupid disagreement.

* * *

Ella made her way through the stone corridors of the castle, her leather book bag flung across her shoulder, shoelaces half undone. She walked out into the courtyard, head held high, with Remus' old jacket hanging loosely on her shoulders - she'd stolen it from the closet before leaving to the Burrow during the summer (he was fully aware of this). Turning a few heads, for the right and wrong reasons, Elizabeth made her way towards the Beech tree at the edge of the Black Lake. She sat down at it's base as usual. Happy that no one was around to listen or stare, she took out her guitar, enlarged it to its normal size, and began plucking away, singing Give a Little Bit by Supertramp - it was one of her favourite songs. About halfway through the song someone sat next to her, but she didn't raise her head. Instead, she continued as if nothing had happened and ignored whoever was observing and listening to her.

Ella played the last few chords and smiled, turning to whoever was sitting next to her. Of course, seeing Draco Malfoy beside her wasn't a surprise. However, the charming smile on his face wasn't expected; it was appreciated however - Liz was tired of seeing his usual sneer or scowl. The sight of him made something flutter in her stomach. That stupid grin on his face drove Ella crazy and it annoyed her that it meddled with her thoughts so much. His quiet chuckle upon seeing the way she was dumbly looking at him sent shivers throughout her body, and the way he was looking back at the girl made her pale cheeks turn bright red, save the few scars she'd inherited over the years. The wind made his white-blond hair whip haphazardly in a way that Elizabeth had come to adore, and his pale grey eyes didn't hold the sharpness or iciness they contained when he was looking at someone; they softened just for her.

"What're you staring at?" Draco asked with a chuckle

"Oh, nothing." Liz dismissed, looking away shyly. She shrunk her guitar and put it away

"What was that song you were just singing?"

"Some Muggle song I like, which you probably don't because of just that."

"I could listen to you sing all day, even if its stupid Muggle song."

Elizabeth smiled and looked out to the Black Lake. The Squid wasn't disturbing the surface. The Grindylows weren't throwing any rocks.

"Ella?"

"Yeah?"

"Nevermind, forget it." the young Malfoy shook his head, slightly laughing at himself

"What is it?" Liz chuckled "I'm not accustomed to seeing the great Draco Malfoy this nervous."

"Me, nervous? Impossible."

"You're hands are shaking."

"And you're face is red, but does that make you shy?"

"Fair enough." Elizabeth laughed, looking down at her hands; she was absently playing with the ring Draco had gotten her "But you still have to tell me what you were going to say."

"No, there's no point. There's no way you'd-" the blond cut himself off

"There's no way I'd what - understand? You know how I feel about people assuming things about me right?"

"It's not tha-"

"Well then what!?" Ellie broke in, irritated "You're afraid to hurt my feelings? I find that hard to believe, because most of the time you-"

Completely unprepared, Draco's lips found Elizabeth's in an instant. Sparks flew, fireworks erupted, butterflies fluttered inside the two Slytherins. The world was slowly disappearing around them, along with all of their worries, problems and anxieties. It was a small yet warm kiss, and Ella, nor Draco, knew a kiss so innocent could be so intimate and electrifying. Ella didn't even realise everything she'd been feeling recently would lead up to this, that she had feelings for one of her best friends and that she'd have her very first kiss with him. Their lips were moving in perfect sync, Draco's hands feeling her waist - he pulled her closer. Liz's hands wandered to the back of the boy's neck to play with the ends of his soft hair. A smile grew on his face as it started to tickle. Finally they pulled apart smiling, out of breath and happier than either of them had been in ages.


	66. Quintaped, Sphinx, Acromantula

The news that Barty Crouch had been found dead on the grounds by none other than Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Rubeus Hagrid had spread throughout the school like the plague. According to the Boy-Who-Lived, he, Ron and Hagrid were walking across the grounds together, near the Dark Forest and found him on the ground, lifeless. The Ministry, much to Dumbledore's apparent dismay, refused to cancel an extremely important event such as the Triwizard tournament even though a man had just died. Elizabeth didn't want the tournament to be over, she wanted to win it, but it would have been ethically correct had they cancelled it.

News that didn't spread was the kiss that Elizabeth Evans and Draco Malfoy had shared, since no one was there to see it happen. Their feelings toward each other were quite clear to one another, and it didn't even need to be discussed between the two how they were to deal about their relationship. Despite Malfoy and Evans' pride in each other - since they thought that the best should only be with the best - the two teenagers decided it was best for both of them to keep their romance a well-guarded secret; Lucius Malfoy and Ella weren't fond of each other, and neither were Harry Potter and Draco. For now, it would be their little secret.

This was why Elizabeth was able to have a semi-decent conversation with her brother this fine soiree, heading to their last class of the day. The only discussions the two were capable of having, when they wanted to speak to each other, could only involve things about the Tournament or something that had nothing to to with each other, like Barty Crouch's death. However, this didn't stop Liz from spiking a little venom into the words she spoke.

"You just found him there taking a nap, did you?"

"Yes, we did!"

"While you were wallowing in self-pity with Ron and Hagrid I suppose?"

"Elizabeth-"

Suddenly, as the two were walking along a corridor, voices could be heard from the herbs store that professor Snape used. Elizabeth recognized the voice instantly, remembering the way it pleaded for mercy when she and her brother where snooping in the Pensieve: Igor Karkaroff. Just as the two were standing near it, it swung open to reveal Karkaroff and Snape in a heated conversation. Karkaroff looked towards the siblings and left rapidly. Harry tried to, but Snape had a few words for both siblings.

"Potter, Evans! What's your hurry?"

"There's no hurry, sir." Ellie said, eyes narrowed at her brother

"Congratulations on your performance, Miss Evans - the transfiguration was complete as well as beautiful." Snape said smoothly, an proud look on his face

"Thank you, sir."

Snape turned to Harry.

"And to you too, Potter. Your performance was inspiring - gillyweed, am I correct?"

"Yes, sir." Harry said through clenched teeth

"Ingenious. A rather rare herb, gillyweed; it's not something found in your everyday garden. Nor is this, know what it is?"

The dark professor took out a small bottle from his robes' pocket and held it up; it was filled with clear liquid.

"Bubble juice, sir?"

"No, you knob; it's Veritaserum." Ella whispered in her brother's ear

"Correct. Three drops of this and You-Know-Who himself would spill his darkest secrets." Snape added, then turned to Harry "The use of this on a student is - regrettably - forbidden. However, should you ever steal from my personal stores again, my hand might just slip over your morning pumpkin juice."

"I haven't stolen anything. Besides, what makes you think it was me, professor? As I recall, Elizabeth had Gillyweed as well." Harry said, throwing the blame her way

"Don't lie to me, Potter. Gillyweed might be innocuous, but boomslang skin? Lacewing flies? You and your friends are brewing Polyjuice potion and believe me I'm going to find out why." Snape said dangerously low "Besides, I was the one who gave your sister her gillyweed."

"Professor? I didn't need to use it for the Task, do you want me to return it to you?" Elizabeth asked

"Keep it. Consider it an early birthday present."

Snape glared at Harry one last time before violently closing the door. Harry rolled his eyes and began to walk away. Ella followed, quietly as first, as she was wondering how Snape knew when her birthday was - she dismissed the question when she remembered that probably everyone knew what it was since she was famous - but clearly voiced her opinion about her brother throwing her under the bus.

"What was that back there!?"

"What was what?"

"Oh you know what, Harry! You blamed me for stealing Professor Snape's gillyweed! From his personal stores too!" Elizabeth said angrily

"What do you care? You got an early birthday present." Harry said, indifferent

"That's not the point!"

"I don't care right now. I'm going to class and sitting as far away from you as I possibly can, while you go fight Pansy for Malfoy again."

Elizabeth's cheeks flushed red in both irritation and embarrassment. She couldn't blame Harry for teasing her about Draco, especially since they were always together. But them actually being "a thing" without Harry knowing made things worse, and she couldn't even complain too much about it since it would raise suspicion.

Ella couldn't sit next to Draco anyway, since Crabbe and Goyle were seated on either side of him, blocking Pansy from clinging to the blond. Elizabeth was disappointed, but couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of an irritated Malfoy as she sat down at the station behind them.

"Pansy, have I ever told you how adorable you look when you're angry?" Elizabeth said in an innocent voice. The three boys turned around to look at her, Pansy looked up

"I'm not adorable; I'm beautiful." she replied, snooty

"Roses are red, violets are blue. God made me pretty, but what happened to you?"

Draco couldn't contain his laughter, therefore neither could Crabbe and Goyle. Pansy growled, irritated, but left soon after Rose had winked in her direction a proud smile on her face. The two "bodyguards" turned back around, but the young Malfoy only did after mouthing a quiet "thank you" in Liz's direction. The witch shrugged, smiling. It faltered when she looked over her shoulder and saw Ron and Harry glaring at her.

Thankfully, Snape barged into his classroom in all his obscure glory and made the two boys straighten immediately. That put a smile back on Liz's face. With a wave of his wand, the professor put the instructions to the Wit-Sharpening Potion on the blackboard.

"Some of you will benefit from today's assignment: Wit-Sharpening Potion." Snape said condescendingly "First student to bring me a perfect potion is relieved from homework this weekend. Perhaps you should begin immediately."

Every Gryffindor and Slytherin began to shuffle around nervously, desperate to have the weekend off from Snape's dreadful homework assignments for once. Elizabeth calmly took out her potions book from the bottom of her bag and opened it to the proper page. She re-read the instructions, crossing out a few things as she went; she'd already done this in her copy back home. With everything adjusted, the Slytherin witch began making her potion, and of course, finished at the same time as Hermione. They both went up to Professor Snape who was scolding Seamus Finnegan for blowing up his potion again, and handed the phials in. He examined them for a moment; Hermione's was almost coral, Elizabeth's was dark orange.

"Miss Evans, you're relieved of homework this weekend. You may be dismissed from class if you wish." the man said simply "Miss Granger, again."

Liz smirked at her 'sister' who playfully rolled her eyes, then packed up her stuff and left the classroom. About halfway down the hall, she came upon the Slytherin Common Room's entrance and went inside to her dormitory to change into regular clothes; tomorrow was the weekend and students weren't required to wear their uniforms. After petting Aslan for a bit, Elizabeth emerged from her dorm and found Draco quietly lying down on the couch, face turned towards the lively fire.

"You're very quiet for a loud person."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I don't know if you should."

Elizabeth laughed and jogged over to the couch, jumping over it and landing where Draco's head used to be; he'd moved just in time. With his head on her lap, Ella ran her slender fingers through his soft hair. The boy didn't say anything, he just smiled and closed his eyes. There was so much in the young Malfoy's silence, so much he couldn't even say if he tried. Liz could see by the way he was smiling at her, eyes closed in content, that he was the happiest he'd been in a while, considering his father was being more of nuisance than usual. If I asked him how he felt about that, he'd just smile and say something stupid to make Elizabeth laugh or roll her eyes. She had to give the boy credit, he was smoother than silk, more cunning than a fox. He would flash that charming smile of his and then he'd have Ella right where he wanted her, tied up tighter than a banker's money, but unlike a Gringotts vault, she didn't feel trapped or pressured by it. She was safe with him, even if he did get his way more that Rose would've liked.

* * *

The Quidditch pitch had been filled with a sky-high maze made of thick hedges. The sun was shining down on the grand stands filled with chattering students, and the Champions were waiting in a tent at the entrance of the pitch, nervously pacing. Draco had come a few minutes ago to wish Elizabeth the best of luck, and it temporarily soothed her nerves, but they were back quite soon after.

The heads of house for Cedric, Harry and Elizabeth had all come to see their students and give them last minute tips, which were much appreciated. Ella was especially happy that Severus Snape was adept in Defense Against the Dark Arts as well as potions, to help her survive the challenges that awaited her in the maze. He'd even showed her a spell he knew. Maybe she'd use it, maybe she wouldn't. But Snape was clear when he said that she shouldn't even dare use it against another Champion, which made her think that it was a pretty serious curse or hex.

Soon, music began to play outside the Champion's tent, which meant that they had to exit and show off before they could enter the maze; Dumbledore also had a few words to say. Cedric, Harry, Elizabeth, Fleur and Viktor all exited the tent at the same time, side by side, smiling reassuringly at each other - even though they were competitors, they respected each other.

"Earlier today Professor Moody placed the Triwizard Cup deep within the maze. Only he knows its exact position." the Headmaster began "Now as miss Evans is in first place, she will enter the maze first." the girl's friends and family, which meant Remus, began to cheer loudly "Mr Diggory and Mr Potter will enter second, as they are tied for first place." their friends and family began to cheer "Mr Krum will enter fourth." the Bulgarians roared "And miss Delacourt will enter last." the Beauxbatons girls clapped respectively "The first person to touch the cup will be the winner. I've instructed the staff to patrol the perimeter, if at any point should a contestant wish to withdraw from the task he or she need only send up red sparks with their wands. Contestants, gather round."

All the Champions huddled around Dumbledore. He was giving more specific instructions.

"In the maze you'll find not dragons or creatures of the deep. Instead you'll face something more challenging. You see, people change in the maze. Oh find the cup if you can, but be very weary you could just lose yourselves along the way."

"Champions! Prepare yourselves!" Mad-Eye bellowed

Elizabeth ran over to the stands for a few seconds and found Remus, hugging him tightly before going back to her starting position. Dumbledore began the countdown and when the canon went off, the Slytherin ran into the maze, instantly getting enveloped in a blanket of darkness. The hedge began to close behind her and mist surrounded her, preventing her from seeing more than ten feet in front of her. Rose carefully move forward at a steady pace, trying to keep her wits about. Once and a while, a root would try to snare her ankle, but she'd blast it with some fire and it would retreat immediately. However, when she heard the last cannon fire - which meant that Fleur was now in the maze - she heard a large growl to her left. Slowly turning towards the sound, Liz drew her wand and pointed it to whatever was in front of her. At first, she couldn't see because of the mist, but then she saw the unmistakable red-brown hairy body of a five-legged Quintaped. Rated XXXXX of the Ministry's classification of creatures, the Quintaped was a highly aggressive creature known to have attacked and eaten full-grown men. Without a doubt, the beast moved forward rapidly and knocked the girl down and her wand a foot away. Liz kicked at it the best she could, but got bitten before she could use a stunning spell to get the thing off her. However, it came right back so Elizabeth used the spell that her professor had taught her in the ten short minutes they'd had to consult.

"Sectumsempra!"

The girl slashed her wand at the Quintaped and a pure white light emerged. When it hit the beast, blood spurted from its body as though it had been slashed and stabbed by an invisible sword. Rose gasped and stared at the creature as its breathing became laboured. Panicked and fascinated, the girl ran over the Quintaped and blasted the hedges with fire as they tried to suffocate her. Its branches cut and stung every part of the girls body, and she couldn't help but think she'd have more scars to add to the collection she already had.

It was quiet for some time, until Rose saw red sparks fly into the air - one of the Champions was being pulled out. She walked forward, slightly limping, before she came upon a figure of something in the mist. Her wand held out in front of her, Liz approached the creature. It was a Sphinx with the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a long yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Its head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon the Slytherin as she approached.

"Elizabeth Evans."

"Yeah, that's me."

"The riddle I provide, if answered correctly, will make me stand aside. Chose to stay away, then I will be on my way. Fail to answer correctly, I daresay, I will become deadly." the Sphinx said in a dreamy voice

"Okay, I'm ready." Ella nodded, taking a deep breath

"First think of the person who lives in disguise, who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies. Next, tell me what's always the last thing to mend, the middle of middle and end of the end? And finally give me the sound often heard, during the search for a hard-to-find word. Now string them together and answer me this, which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?"

Elizabeth lowered her wand and began to identify all the clues to the riddle. Of course the first part was 'spy', it was obvious. The second wasn't as easy, but she was a great essay writer so the letter 'd' came to mind soon enough. However, the last one was more complicated. The sound someone made while searching for a word? Uh? Um? Mmm? Er? There were too many. The Slytherin decided to patch everything together to see which would fit better, seeing as it had to be the name of a creature no one would want to kiss. Spy-d-uh? Spy-d-um? Spy-d-mmm? Spy-d-er? Spyder...

"Spider!" Elizabeth said out loud, hoping it was the correct answer

"You may go ahead, but don't loose your head." the Sphinx replied, moving aside to let Elizabeth through

"Thank you."

"No, thank you. For it is you, who answered true."

Elizabeth ran forward and ducked from more branches, only to find that the 'spyder' she was supposed to face was lying stunned on the ground. Suddenly, she heard yelling to her right. The girl ran towards the sound and saw Cedric being pulled away by some vines and getting saved by Harry. The girl turned her head and noticed the glittering blue cup at the end of the hall of hedge. She looked back at Harry and Cedric, who didn't seem to have noticed her yet.

"You know for a moment there I thought you were gonna let it get me." the Hufflepuff chuckled dryly

"For a moment so did I." Harry admitted

"Some game huh?"

"Some game."

A large gust of wind blew Liz's hair into her face as she slowly crept towards the Triwizard cup, unseen.

"Go. Take it." Cedric told Harry "You saved me!"

"Don't mind if I do!" Elizabeth shouted, making a run for the cup

Suddenly, both boys ran after her, agreed that they'd all touch the cup at the same time. But Elizabeth was determined to get first place, to be recognised as the youngest Triwizard champion the world had even known. But as Elizabeth got closer and closer to the cup, more and more roots slashed at her ankles and slowed her down. When her hand touched the cup, so did two others - Cedric's and Harry's. Then, they were transported somewhere... Somewhere unexpected.


	67. The Dark Lord

It was a calm, moonlit night. The darkness from the maze had remained like the spell of an enchantress, the air so chilled it almost hurt to breathe. Elizabeth, Harry and Cedric - the Triwizard cup tossed to the side and no longer glowing - gazed cautiously at their surroundings; they weren't supposed to be there.

In previous years, the Little Hangleton Graveyard was a fine resting place for the citizens of the quaint little town. However, today it was overgrown - many of the graves had become covered by moss and ivy, many of the names of deceased loved ones had faded, several headstones had tilted and sunken into the cold ground, a number of jagged stone steps had recessed into the ground, now partially hidden. In the distance, the house that Harry and Elizabeth had been seeing in their dreams could be seen, as dark as ever.

Elizabeth's gaze wandered to a tall statue. Amongst the graves, obelisks, mausoleums and sarcophagus, stood the most opulent statue of the Angel of Death, holding in its stone skeletal hands a scythe the size of a full-grown man. In front of it, stood a large marble headstone, familiar names etched upon it: Thomas Riddle, Mary Riddle and Thomas Riddle Sr.

"Harry, we've been here before. We have to get out. We have to get to the cup."

"What are you talking about?" Cedric asked

"In a dream, we've been here in a dream." Harry confirmed

Two loud shouts were heard in the otherwise silent graveyard as pain seared through Harry's forehead and Elizabeth's upper lip, their minds conceding to the torment that was soon to come. They were unable to bring a thought to completion. Without meaning or thought process, both children press their hands to the location of their pain, subconsciously hoping that it would lessen, and all while it burned and radiated.

"What is it?" Cedric asked, panicked, looking between the two siblings

"Get back to the cup!"

However, before Cedric could head for the cup and leave towards a safer place. The pain in Elizabeth's face and Harry's head disappeared in an instant. No matter how pleasant that was, it meant that He was here. Looking up, the three students spotted a short and portly figure approaching, carrying something in his arms.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Cedric shouted at the figure

"Kill the spare..." a unpleasantly familiar soft and raspy voice commanded

Suddenly, the figure's arm raised and pointed Cedric. A flash of bright green light flew from his wand and hit Cedric square in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He landed a few meters away with a loud thump, eyes open and glassy, a final exhale escaping his lips. Cedric Diggory was dead.

"CEDRIC!" Harry screamed

Elizabeth stayed silent as the figure, now known as Wormtail, approached at a steady pace still clutching something in his arms. The girl pointed her wand at him and began to mutter a spell, but the rat-like man fired back, sending her and her brother straight into a wall. The statue that the siblings were now leaning against for support turned on them, and came alive, harshly grabbing the two children and keeping them in place. Their wands fell just beside their feet.

"Do it now!" the raspy voice said

"Yes, master." Wormtail squeaked

Harry and Elizabeth watched on, terrified, as the ex-Marauder gently dropped something into the large cauldron that was placed at the center of the Little Hangleton Graveyard. He pointed his wand towards the Angel of Death statue and out came a large bone, floating in mid-air.

"Bones of the father, unwillingly given, you will renew your son." he said, dropping the bone into the cauldron "Flesh of the servant, willingly sacrificed, you will revive your master."

Without hesitation, Wormtail took a knife to his hand and cut it off, dropping it into the cauldron. Harry cringed, tears prickling at his eyes, but not giving into the fear. Elizabeth tried to remain stoical, preferring to hide her fear rather than face it.

"Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken, you will revive your foe."

Wormtail quickly walked over to Harry and Elizabeth, holding out a knife. Both siblings fought against the restraints of the stone statue but they couldn't break free and had to let the traitor cut their arms and drop their blood into the cauldron. That would be another scar to add to Ella's collection.

"The Dark Lord will rise again."

Suddenly, the cauldron began to smoke, covering the entire graveyard ground in ash-coloured mist. The smoke then turned into bright flames, burning twice as high as the rat-like man standing beside it. Slowly, through the mist, Elizabeth and her brother saw a tall pale figure rise from the cauldron. Wormtail handed him his long black robes and he stood before the siblings, red eyes with black slits staring into their perfectly almond-shaped green orbs.

"My wand, Wormtail." he said, and the servant obeyed "Hold out your arm."

The rat-like man held out his handless arm, and You-Know-Who waved his pale wand over it. With a glow of red light, a silver hand replaced the one that he himself had severed. The servant thanked his master repeatedly before being silenced by the arrival of multiple other people. Death Eaters had been summoned.

"Welcome my friends. Fourteen years it's been, and yet you stand before me as though it were only yesterday. I confess myself disappointed, not one of you tried to find me." the Dark Lord said in a cold voice

Suddenly, the feared wizard began violently slashing at the crown that had gathered, injuring a few of his followers that had moved on, believing him to be dead and gone for good. He then turned to one of them.

"Not even you, Lucius."

Elizabeth's eyes went wide. She knew that Lucius Malfoy was an evil bigot, but she never thought in a million years... that he'd be a Death Eater. What did that say about his wife, Narcissa? Or Draco? Did he know? Was Lucius Malfoy trying to lure his son into joining the Death Eaters as well?

"My Lord." the Malfoy said, curtly "Had I detected any sign or even a whisper of your whereabouts-"

"There were plenty of signs my friend, and not only whispers..." the Dark Lord said

"I assure you I never renounced the old ways. The face I have been obliged to present each day since your absence, that was my true mask."

"I returned!" Wormtail said defiantly

"Out of fear, not loyalty. Still, you have proven yourself useful these past few months." You-Know-Who continued, walking over to where Cedric's body laid cold and lifeless "Oh, such a handsome boy..."

"Don't touch him." Harry warned

The Dark Lord turned to look at the two siblings, and smiled a destructive and malicious smile.

"Harry! Elizabeth! I'd almost forgotten you were here. Oh, the boy and girl who lived... How lies have fed your legend Harry, Elizabeth. Shall I reveal what really happened that night thirteen years ago? Shall I divulge how I truly lost my powers?" the man, if he even was that, taunted "It was love. You see when dear sweet Lily Potter gave her life for her twin children, she provided the ultimate protection. I could not touch you. It was old magic, something I should have foreseen. But no matter, no matter. Things have changed, I can touch you now!"

The wizard placed his hands upon both children's foreheads and the same pain seared, this time, throughout their bodies. Harry let out a yelp of pain, his eyes shutting tight and his body yearning to convulse or roll up into a comfortable fetal position. His sister however, in the same exact pain as him, simply flinched, unwilling to show her fear, pain and and anxiety to her enemy. Suddenly, she felt something digging inside her head, memories of her and Hermione at home, having fun. Liz tried to force the images out, knowing full-well what the Dark Lord was doing. Eventually, the sensation subsided and the images stopped flowing to the forefront of her mind. Voldemort blinked.

"Well, well, Elizabeth... Already showing an aptitude for Occlumency, are we? You learned that from Daddy." he taunted, hoping it would get a rise out of the girl

The girl stayed quiet, but not her brother.

"Leave her alone!" he warned

"Astonishing what a few drops of your blood will do, eh Harry?" Voldemort said, pressing harder into the boy's forehead, then suddenly letting go "Pick up your wands, children."

In an instant, the statue that was holding the two siblings back set them free, allowing for them to grab their wands. Hesitantly, Harry and Elizabeth grabbed their wands, causing the Dark Lord to smile, something that made him seem more villainous than he already did.

"Good. Now, get up! You've been taught how to duel I presume, yes? First we bow to each other."

Voldemort bowed correctly, as the formal dueling rules depict. Now, Elizabeth knew - because of all the crime shows she watched on television - that in order to survive the longest in a horrible situation with a serial killer or someone of an equal moral center (or lack thereof) you have to humour whomever was keeping you captive. Therefore, the young Slytherin bowed quietly, her wand placed firmly at her side. Harry however, refused to obey.

"Wonderful, Elizabeth!" You-Know-Who clapped, mockingly "Come on now Harry the niceties must be observed, Dumbledore would not want you to forget your manners now would he? I said bow!"

With a flick of his wand, Ella's brother was forced bow very low, nearly snapping in half. But then, Voldemort cast another spell at the witch's brother. In a blinding red light, Harry was hit with the Cruciatus curse. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that he no longer knew where he was. It was as if white-hot knives were piercing every inch of his skin, his head was surely going to burst with pain as he was screaming more loudly than he'd ever screamed in his life. It was hard for Elizabeth to remain impassive to the events happening beside her. She was listening to her brother being tortured, she was listening to his screams of pain, listening to him plead. The Slytherin clenched her jaw and refused to look at him, by fear that she'd loose it and get herself killed in the process.

"Atta girl Elizabeth, your parents would be so proud. Especially your filthy mongrel mother." Voldemort sneered, releasing Harry from the curse "I'm going to kill you Harry Potter, I'm going to destroy you. After tonight no one will ever again question my powers. After tonight if they speak of you they'll speak only of how you begged for death, and I being a merciful lord obliged... But not before I have a little conversation with your sister."

The Dark Lord cast one last spell at Harry, sending him flying backwards and slamming onto the wall of a marble mausoleum. Elizabeth calmly closed her moss green eyes and took a deep breath, trying as much as possible to calm her wildly beating heart, to calm her nerves, to hide her relentless fear. The pale, snake-like wizard then turned towards her, his red eyes boring into her very soul. She tried to avoid his gaze.

"No, no, no, don't look away, my dear." he said softly, his tone cold "I'm impressed... Able to watch your brother endure the Cruciatus curse without even batting a beautiful little eye. You know, you have your mother's eyes."

"So I've heard." Liz's voice came out quiet and shaky

"And you're able to speak to me as well, how wonderful! Now, how about I tell you about that father of yours..."

"Not today!"

Suddenly, Harry came out from wherever he was hiding and cast a flash of red light towards Voldemort who, in turn, cast a green one - a spell Elizabeth knew to be the killing curse; she'd assisted in killing a spider earlier this year, so she knew what it looked and felt like. Both spells crashed together, sending the girl flying into a nearby statue; Rose was barely two feet away so the impact was greater. Her head smashed against the stone, leaving her skull cracked and bleeding. Harry managed to scream her name all while he was trying to hold onto his wand for dear life. At that moment, the two different coloured wand lights both turned golden and voices could be heard over the gushing wind and zapping of the two spells. Ellie tried to move, but her sides were burning with a familiar pain, one she felt a few years back after playing Quidditch - she knew that her ribs were broken.

As she gazed at the golden lights flying everywhere, she recalled something she'd seen in her Practical Defense Against the Dark Arts book that Hermione had gotten her. Priori Incantatem was a magical phenomenon that occurred when two wands of the same cores were forced to battle against each other; Harry and Voldemort both had a tail-feather from the same Phoenix. Soon, the one thread of dark golden light broke into hundreds of golden beams which formed a giant cage around both casters, and the echoes of previously cast spells revealed themselves to Harry and Elizabeth. Cedric arrived first, looking as healthy as he could be, in a blueish glow.

"Harry, Elizabeth, take my body back to my father will you?" he said, to which Ella nodded "Thank you, and good luck."

Cedric's echo vanished almost as soon as it came, only to be replaced with the face of a woman she didn't recognize. She was beautiful, her long red hair falling just below her shoulders and her almond-shaped eyes that could have been any colour, due to the blueish glow of the Priori Incantatem. But she was still beautiful, looking no older than her mid-twenties. Then another figure appeared almost at the same time. Elizabeth had never seen him before either, but she could guess who he was. His black unruly hair resembled Harry's too much not to see the connection. The glasses also helped. This must have been James Potter, Harry's father. That meant, the woman...

"Harry when the connection is broken you must get to the portkey. We can delay it for a moment to give you time but only a moment, do you understand?" the man said, earning him a nod from Harry

He looked over at Ella and smiled, nodding respectfully. The Slytherin just stared on, her gaze shifting towards the woman almost instantly.

"Elizabeth..." the woman began "Do what you do best... I love you."

Suddenly, the connection broke between the two wands and everyone was sent flying back, save Elizabeth who was already up against a stone wall. Mustering all the strength she could, the girl rose from her spot and ignored the crunching sounds coming from her broken bones and the searing pain running through her entire body. She limped towards Cedric's body and pointed her wand at a furious Voldemort. Just as Harry got to her and Cedric, and summoned the Triwizard cup, Ella cast her recently learned 'Sectumsempra' at the Dark Lord, but he deflected it, sending the cast spell towards a Death Eater. It hit him square in the chest, causing him to fall to the ground, bleeding profusely. The last thing Harry and Elizabeth heard before travelling with the portkey, were the angry shouts of the risen Lord Voldemort.

The portkey brought the three students to the entrance of the maze. Immediately, cheers rang throughout the stadium and music began to play, students and teachers alike not understanding what was happening. According to them, the Tournament was over and it was a three-way tie or something of the sort... But it was far from that.

Harry was crouched, hovering over Cedric's dead body, tears falling freely from his eyes. He couldn't contain the sadness he felt, the anger he felt. Elizabeth on the other hand, could have passed as dead, had it not been for the jagged rise and fall of her chest. Her pants were ripped, her sweater had been torn off by the Quintaped long ago, and the tank top she wore was filled with holes and stained with the five-legged creature's, hers and Harry's blood. Her long matted hair was splayed around her head like a melancholic halo of ravens, her ivory skin was dirty and littered with lacerations and bruises, and her moss green eyes were held open only by the fear that something would attack her if she shut them. She was in shock more than anything else; her vision cloudy, the pain replaced with numbness and her mind incapable of forming a thought.

It was the beginning of the end...


	68. Cedric Diggory

Elizabeth woke up in the hospital wing one week later, her bones and cuts mended - as the girl suspected, the large cut Wormtail made on her arm remained in the form of a scar. For some reason, they never stayed on Harry when Madam Pomfrey healed him, and it bothered Elizabeth quite a bit. At least the Weasley twins (who had already come to visit her today to bring her way too many sweets and news that Mad-Eye Moody was actually Barty Crouch Junoir in disguise) said that it made her look more 'badass' or 'cooler than the average girl'; it was a little reassuring. Amir had come right when they were leaving, running to his Rose's bedside and making sure that she was all right. It made the girl laugh that he was so concerned because, as usual, she was playing it off as if it was not a big deal when it was. Remus had remained at school for a while so he could talk to his granddaughter and to Dumbledore - Elizabeth hoped her Godfather wasn't too mad at the Headmaster; it wasn't exactly his fault. But he seemed relatively calm when he came to visit her. Well, calm for a person whose family was almost killed anyway. Liz practically poured her soul out to the man, who was at a loss for what to say; he was surprised that at that moment, his Goddaughter wasn't bursting into tears as she told him about the rise of Lord Voldemort. Of course, Ron, Hermione and Harry had come to see her, forgetting that their disagreement ever happened. It pained Elizabeth to lie to them, but it would have been worse had they known what was really going on between Draco and Ella. However, there was one thing that the girl wanted to discuss with her brother, and she saw no harm in speaking about it right then and there, even if the way she might speak could potentially reopen the rift that the quartet had just sealed.

"Harry, why'd you tell You-Know-Who to shut it when he was about to tell me who my father was?"

"Wait, you actually spoke to him!?" Hermione gasped "Harry, you didn't tell us that!"

"Psychopaths 101, Hermione: always play into their delusion, it could save your life." I stated dramatically "Which is why when he told me to bow, I fucking bowed, and didn't get myself bloodied up by the Cruciatus curse!"

"I hate to admit it, but maybe you should listen your sister more often, mate." Ron said sheepishly

"Thank you, Ronald, for finally making sense."

"Hey, at least I did something and didn't just stand there!" Harry argued

"You did something, look what it got you! At least I managed to severely injure, and possibly kill, a Death Eater." I countered, surprisingly calmer than I felt "Besides, this isn't what we're talking about. I want to know why you interrupted You-Know-Who when he was about to talk about my father."

"Who cares if I stopped him? Would you even have believed him?"

"Probably not, but I-"

"See!?"

"But I could have used the information he gave me to do my own research and see if anything he said made any sense." I continued loudly, staring coldly at my brother "But now, since Mister Hero Potter decided to attack Mister No Nose, I don't know a bloody thing."

"Mister No Nose?" Ron said more to himself

"He doesn't have a nose, it's quite funny actually. Oh, but never mind that, I'm back to square one with my daddy issues."

"You'll figure it out eventually, Lizzie." Hermione reassured "I mean, you are smarter than me."

"A lot smarter than you, Granger."

Elizabeth's heart fluttered at the voice which made the three Gryffindor students roll their eyes and turn towards the door frame. Draco Malfoy obviously looked quite casual as he leaned in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest - he thought it made him look more imposing; Elizabeth laughed at him last time he said that.

"We'll see you later, Liz." Harry grumbled, glaring at a smirking Malfoy

As soon as the trio had walked out of the hospital wing and disappeared around the hall's corridor, Malfoy's expression changed from one of nonchalance to one of deep worry. He checked the surroundings and, seeing that no one was around, bolted straight for Ella and cupped her scarred face in his hands, lips smashing against her own so that the two were locked in a desperate kiss. His lips were warm and tasted of apples; something he was always caught eating. His hands were wrapped around Elizabeth's waist and hers were locked around Draco's neck pulling him down slightly. When they broke apart for air, the young Malfoy's smirk told Liz everything, and she smiled back.

"Worried much?" she chuckled

"Not in the slightest." the boy replied, smirk still present on his face

"Of course not, which is why you look so worried."

"One of these days you're going to get yourself killed, Ella..."

"Maybe. But if I do I'll make sure I go out with a bang... Like maybe I'll buy some Zonkos fireworks or something." Eizabeth smiled cheekily

"Or maybe you'll be the death of me." Draco sighed, brushing a lock of hair out of her eyes

"In that case, I'll set off some fireworks at your funeral instead."

"Can you ever take things seriously?"

"Not if I can help it."

* * *

It was a few more days before Elizabeth was allowed to exit the hospital wing. Her injuries had healed up perfectly, save the usual visible scars she had on her body - the count was up to three. Finally everyone was out of the hospital wing, including Fleur Delacour, so Dumbledore could make the announcement he was dreading to make. The Great Halls banners this year weren't a specified house colour, since the house cup competition was cancelled, and even if it hadn't been, no one would have wanted to celebrate their house win. Instead, the banners were all black and gloomy.

Cho Chang was crying more than anyone else, seeing as they had stared dating after the Yule Ball, much like Elizabeth and Draco. Every Hufflepuff was teary-eyed, even Zacharias Smith who usually didn't seem to care. The Ravenclaws and Gryffindors, especially Harry, were sad, but it was more of an empathetic sadness; not many of them knew Cedric all that well. The Slytherins, to everyone's surprise, were stoical, most likely because their star housemate was looking angry and sad at the same time and everyone knew what would happen if she got in a worse state. Dumbledore rose from his seat.

"Today we acknowledge a really terrible loss. Cedric Diggory was, as you all know, exceptionally hard working, intricately fair minded, and most importantly a fierce, fierce friend. I think therefore you have the right to know exactly how he died." Dumbledore said, causing the Hall to fall into a low buzz of conversation "You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort. The ministry of magic does not wish me to tell you this. But not to do so I think would be an insult to his memory and an insult to the boy and girl who fought to protect him." the Headmaster said, making almost every pair of eyes dart towards either Liz or Harry "Now the pain we all feel at this dreadful loss reminds me - reminds us - that while we may come from different places and speak in different tongues, our hearts beat as one. In light of recent events the bonds of friendship we made this year will be more important than ever. Remember that and Cedric Diggory will not have died in vain, you remember that. And we'll celebrate a boy who was kind and honest and brave and true right to the very end."

* * *

The end of term was drawing near. In a few more hours, the train to King's Cross Station would be leaving from Hogsmeade and every Hogwarts student would be going home. All the Slytherins were filing out of the Common Room, double checking that they hadn't forgotten anything of importance. Draco and Elizabeth had had their secret meeting, giving each other a goodbye kiss before they left, since they wouldn't be able to do it at either train station or on the train. The boy had left the Dungeons a while ago, but Ella remained seated on one of the tufted sofas in the common room, packed trunk and Aslan set beside her. She pet her feline companion through the cage, absent-minded. Her thoughts were obviously on the events that had happened in the Little Hangleton cemetery. Did Voldemort really know about her father, or was he toying with her? Was that redheaded woman really her mother, or did ghosts enjoy telling people they loved them? What was the real reason that Harry stopped You-Know-Who from talking that day?

"Miss Evans, I suggest you stop brooding at get a move on; the train will not wait for you." a cool voice said from behind her causing the girl to jump and stand, smoothing out her clothes

"Right, sorry, professor. Just got lost in thought, apparently." Liz replied, glancing at her Head of House

"If I may ask, why is it you aren't dressed as you usually would?"

"I don't see why you should have a problem with a little black, sir. After all, it is all you wear."

"I'm aware of that, Miss Evans. Unfortunately, your mood reflects itself in your attire; now I will ask you again... why is it you aren't dressed as usual?"

"You know, if you actually care, it would be a lot easier to ask me how I'm feeling, professor."

With a sigh, Elizabeth shrugged on Remus' old jacket and dragged her trunk as she carried Aslan's cage in the other hand. She stood in front of the hole-in-the-wall until it opened and she began to walk out of the dorm, her gait obviously signaling her fatigue, sadness and anger. Halfway down the corridor, in front of the stairs, Ella groaned, irritated at the slightest sight of a problem. Suddenly, she felt her trunk slowly lift of the ground, and Aslan's cage gently being pulled out of her hand. Sure enough, Severus Snape had cast a locomotion charm on her suitcase and was carrying Aslan, who was purring away - something he rarely did unless in company of Remus or Herself. The girl smiled at her professor's back, knowing full well this was one of his ways of telling her he was there for her.


	69. Mama Loves You

The Ones with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approach

Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies

They will have powers the Dark Lord knows not, and the Dark Lord will mark them as his equals

One must die at the hands of the other for neither can live while the other survives

* * *

 _It was dark times for all of wizard kind, especially for those in England. While the mornings and afternoons were bright despite the clouds, the feeling of darkness and cold weaved its way through the households of once happy families who were now terrified that their lives were going to end at any given moment. Not only did wizards feel the pending doom that was drawing near, but the Muggles did as well even though they had no clue what was in the midst. For them, the ash grey clouds and everlasting chill that clung to their skin was simply normal for the English climate and not at all a sign of You-Know-Who's nefarious plans coming to life._

 _Godric's Hollow, West Country, England, Great Britain. Houses looked ominous under the dim light of street lamps, the stars shielded by an unnaturally thick blanket of clouds. One of them seemed enveloped by blackness, no neighbouring houses in sight. A lonely ground floor window shone brightly, ignited by a soft flame in the fireplace. Inside, a beautiful woman paced back and forth, a sleeping baby boy held lovingly in her arms. Her bright red hair and green eyes shone in the glow of the fireplace. Her gentle humming ceased with a smile when a man walked into the room, hazel eyes smiling behind his round spectacles, as he carried a sleeping baby girl around with him. They talk in whispers, not waking their son and daughter._

 _"She's finally sleeping." the man said "He finally out?"_

 _"Yeah, about time too." his wife smiled down at their son "I don't think they like all this moving around."_

 _Both parents gently placed their children on the nearby sofa and stretched their backs - James began massaging his wife's shoulders. The two babies were fast asleep._

 _"With a bit of luck, we won't be here long. At least we're safe."_

 _"How do you feel about it?" the woman asked_

 _"'Bout what?" her husband replied_

 _"About all this. Bringing them into this." the readhead gestured to her children "It's different with a family."_

 _"It's okay; I'm scared too."_

 _"Do you regret it?"_

 _"Regret what?" the glasses-clad man asked_

 _"Bringing children into this world... now."_

 _"Of course not."_

 _"We've barely been a family for a year and we're already hiding for our lives, James." the woman said "I don't want to raise them like this. Hiding, shielded from the outside world."_

 _"It's just for now. Voldemort is not so mighty yet that he's above fear, Lily." James said, trying to convince himself as much as his wife "He will never harm Harry or Elizabeth. Never."_

 _Some time later, the wind picked up and sent loose leaves and dust flying around in the night. James and Lily had picked up their children and quietly walked upstairs to the nursery they had temporarily set up, so harry and Elizabeth could sleep soundly. Two toy broomsticks leaned against the wall in the corner of the room and a small red train set blew quiet puffs of smoke as it made its way across the floor of the bedroom. The couple had placed Harry and Elizabeth in their crib - which they'd made big enough to fit two children with the help of a simple charm - and kissed both of their foreheads before retreating back down to their living room._

 _It had somehow become darker in the next few hours, and the sound of wind and rustling leaves had silenced. The only sounds that could be heard was the soft crackling of the fireplace, the whirring of a toy that James accidentally stepped on and the soft chirping of the family's barn owl in her cage. As the raven-haired man passed in front of a window on his way to the kitchen, he swore he saw something move outside. Taking a few steps back, the man gazed outside, his curious eyes searching for movement. He had a bad feeling about this, a feeling that someone was watching the house. Lily appeared in the doorway beside him._

 _"What is it?" she asked. Her husband didn't reply "James?"_

 _"There's something out there." he finally said_

 _"What are you talking about?"_

 _"There's something out there, Lily. I can feel it."_

 _For a moment he simply stared outside, eyes fixated on the swinging fence door. Suddenly, it stopped moving. Out of the darkness and into the light shining from the house, James saw a pale hand reach out towards the door and hold it open for the figure to pass through. Dread crept up on James like death upon a cancer patient._

 _"It's him. He's here." he said, eyes widening as he marched over to his wife_

 _"No, it can't be. It's impossible!" she gasped_

 _"He must've gotten to Peter. Lily, listen to me! Take Harry and Liz, and go through the fireplace. I'll hold him off."_

 _"James, no!"_

 _"You have to go now!" James insisted_

 _"No, we have to stay together!" Lily argued_

 _"Don't worry about me! Just go!"_

 _After sharing a desperate kiss that they thought would be their last, Lily turned on her heel and ran up the stairs leaving James alone in front of the door, wand at the ready. Upstairs, Lily difficultly grabbed both children in one arm and ran towards the fireplace. She stood inside it, tears staining her cheeks and grabbed a handful of Floo powder._

 _"Hogwarts!" she yelled frantically, throwing the sand to the floor_

 _Green flames engulfed her, but she didn't feel anything. The woman simply watched as they rapidly died down without her leaving her original position. Terrified out of her wits, Lily ran back to the children's nursery where she placed them back into their crib. Both were wide awake. Downstairs, red light suddenly shone from the front door's keyhole. Cracks spread through the door and without warning, it explodes inwards in pieces. James didn't move a muscle. A large heavily cloaked figure entered the room, bringing with him an aura of death and destruction. from under the massive black hood emerged a skull white head with snakelike eyes that were a vibrant blood-red._

 _"Potter." he said, voice a high whisper full of malice_

 _"No matter what you do to me, all your policies and webs of fear and treachery are coming to an end. I swear this!" James shouted_

 _"Ah, James... Brave even in your last stand. I gave you the chance of aiding me willingly, saving yourself much trouble and pain. But you and your Mudblood wife chose the side of a Muggle-loving fool! Did you really believe that Dumbledore and your pitiful little band of wizards could ever grow strong enough to launch an assault upon me?"_

 _"Of course I do, you're still afraid of him!"_

 _"Lord Voldemort suffers no rival!"_

 _"Albus Dumbledore's very name still frightens you!" James bellowed "And he is, and will always be mightier than you are! And as long as he lives more of us will gather, and those like me and my family will always be there to fight you and your slaves!"_

 _"You always were a fool, James." Voldemort sneered "Dumbledore couldn't protect you from me. Your friend has forsaken you, Potter. And no one will save you this time."_

 _"Then face me, if you dare."_

 _Fear and dread only further filled Lily Potter's mind as she heard large explosions coming from the lower level of the house. The entire dwelling was shaking, making numerous moving picture frames fall from the walls and crash onto the floor in a big heap of glass. Silence then fell once again. Lily, fearing the worst, took out her wand and locked and placed a sticking spell on the door to the nursery. Had James still been alive, he'd have cried out to her. the woman then went over to her children and knelt down in front of them, tears falling from her eyes._

 _"Harry, Elizabeth, my loves..." she began as she heard someone trying to enter the bedroom "Mama loves you. Don't forget it, okay? Mama loves you both very much. Be safe, be strong and be smart... Follow your hearts."_

 _As before, light began to seep through the keyhole as Lily shakily held out her wand towards it. Screaming as the door exploded inwards, she shielded her children who immediately began crying at the loud noise. Harry was standing, reaching out towards his mother while Elizabeth curled up behind him, eyes wide in fear. The boy sat down when the hooded figure walked into the room, wand held in his right hand._

 _"No, please! Just don't hurt them, kill me!" Lily pleaded "Kill me, just leave them be."_

 _"You silly girl." Voldemort said with a dry chuckle "Whatever made you think I came here for you and James?"_

 _Once bright green eyes widened in horror._

 _"Not them! Not my babies! Please, I'll do anything!"_

 _"Stand aside, then!"_

 _Voldemort raised his wand towards the crib, but Lily turned faster and, using her back to shield the twins, she began muttering words of love to them, hoping that these last words would stick with them forever. The Dark Lord shouted the killing curse towards the redhead who, with a cry of agony, fell limp to the floor. Harry and Elizabeth had stopped crying long ago, the fear of the loud noise passed. Both children stared at the cloaked figure; he stared right back. A look of insult then washed over his face, making him raise his wand towards them._

 _"Goodbye, Harry and Elizabeth Potter." Voldemort whispered with a sick smile on his face "Avada Kedavra."_

 _A flash of bright green light shot out of the Dark Lord's wand, but it didn't do what is was intended for. Instead of killing both children at the same time, the curse ricochet off the boy's forehead, creating a distinct lightning bolt-shaped scar. A small remaining part of the curse that hadn't touched Harry had hit Elizabeth only on the lip, since she was hiding behind her brother. But when both spells bounced back off, they traveled towards the Dark Lord himself and hit him square in the chest. The once invincible Lord Voldemort fell into ashes, his spirit leaving his body and the house, shattering all the glass in the windows - the Dark Lord had fallen at the hands of two children who could barely talk._


	70. Faithful to Myself

A fifteen year old Elizabeth jolted awake, forehead bathed in sweat, woken by yet another nightmare. They seemed to be getting more and more frequent since her encounter with You-Know-Who at the Triwizard Tournament a few weeks back. The girl looked around the room; she'd fallen asleep in the small window seat of her bedroom in Remus Lupin's home in the middle of the woods, somewhere in Yorkshire. Open letters remained scattered all over the floor, her cauldron was simmering a bright lavender in the corner of her room and Aslan had fallen asleep on top of Liz's old transfiguration textbook. She rolled herself off the window seat and stood, deciding to change out of the dusty clothes she was wearing; Aslan had knocked over a jar of powdered horn of Bicorn on top of her.

Remus had left a while ago to go around town on business he rarely shared with Elizabeth - she assumed he was trying to get a job; it wasn't easy because people often refused to hire a Werewolf. The Slytherin witch walked out of her bedroom and to the front door, putting on her sunglasses and hat, then laced up her boots before going outside for a walk in the middle of the forest. The woodland was like a droplet of paradise. The air was still, miniature flecks of dust reflecting in the sun's rays. Here Aslan could run free for hours as if he were a dog, hunting for field mice or squirrels. The sunlight streamed in like it was pure, white yet liquid gold at the same time, despite the dark times that seemed to draw near. Nearby, on a rotting spindly tree, was a woodpecker hunting for insects and Aslan stalking it as the bird pecked at the thick bark. Tiny chunks of wood fell to the leaf litter below, the sound dissipating into the woodland around. Soon the pecking sound ceased as well.

Rose walked through the trees and over their roots, hands in the pockets of Remus' coat, looking bored and dejected. The sight of Cedric's lifeless body was burned into her memory, the sight of You-Know-Who's blood-red eyes still chilled her to the bone, and what the Dark Lord had said to her that day still echoed in her ears. The scars that littered her body reminded her of all the horrors she'd lived and saddened her further, making her sigh and kick a stone that laid on the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, Liz spotted something moving quietly between the trees. Her green eyes fell upon something more gruesome and more sinister than a regular horse. It was enormous and pitch black, giant bat-like wings protruding from its back. Fleshless and sleek, its body was covered with a translucent and glossy coat, their bone structure clearly defined. Milky-white expressionless eyes glittered in the sunlight, and its dragon-like face was bent over a small brook, water being drunk through the small cracks of the creature's long sharp fangs.

Liz let out a small gasp, sending Alsan right to her side; he ran back home when Elizabeth told him too. The girl tried to back away slowly, but she stepped on the proverbial branch which snapped and caused the creature to raise its head towards her. She'd read about these creatures in her textbooks, but she never thought that she'd ever see a wild Thestral in her life. Ella knew what it meant though - it meant that she had fully accepted that Cedric had died, seeing it happen before her eyes, as these omens of misfortune were only visible to those who had seen and accepted death as a reality. For a moment, Elizabeth and the Thestral stared at each other, neither of them moving an inch. However, the onyx creature calmly took a step towards the teenager, making her take a step back in turn. Suddenly, the beast looked up as if something were drawing near. Despite her weariness of the Thestral, Liz looked around as well and immediately recognized the signs: the brook had turned to ice, the leaves on the green trees had turned snow white and her breath became visible.

"No, no, no." Ella whispered to herself, taking out her dark wand "Not now, not here."

Suddenly, behind the Thestral the largest Dementor Elizabeth had ever seen in her life, followed by a second of the same size. Without hesitation in breaking the Ministry's Rules, the Slytherin thought of her happiest memory and pointed her wand towards the two Azkaban guards.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!" she roared

Out of the tip of her wand soared a glittering silver doe, which charged towards the two Dementors. It blew them away, passing through the Thestral, and came back towards Elizabeth, disappearing before it touched her. At that moment, Liz turned and ran back towards the house, forgetting about the dark creature she'd seen in the forest. When she got home, Aslan was clutching a letter in his mouth. It was addressed to her.

Miss Evans,

We have received intelligence that you have performed the Patronus Charm outside of the allowed perimeters of underage magic usage. We regret to inform you of your immediate expulsion from Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

A Ministry official will visit you shortly to destroy your wand.

Amelia S. Bones,

Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Suddenly, a loud cracking sound came from her left and Remus came forward, clutching a similar letter to Elizabeth's in his hand. The girl simply stared at the piece of parchment. Expelled? That's ridiculous, she thought. How could she be expelled for protecting herself from creatures that wanted to suck out her soul and weren't supposed to be out of Azkaban prison in the first place? It wasn't fair.

"What is this?"Remus asked sternly

"I- I was in the forest, out for a- a walk." Rose stuttered

"And?"

"And!? Two Dementors popped out of nowhere! D'you really think I'd just perform a Patronus out of school because I can?"

"Of course not. That's not why I'm mad." Lupin sighed "What are Dementors doing out of Azkaban?"

"It's him. It has to be." Liz said, sinking into an armchair

"Voldemort? You think Voldemort is sending Dementors after you?"

"Well why wouldn't he? He failed to kill Harry and I - Harry! Did Dementors get to Harry too!?"

"Yes, this what the letter in my hands says... It's from Dumbledore."

"Of course Dumbledore knows..." Rose said to herself "We can't just stay here, Remus. Well, at least I'm not."

"At dusk we'll leave to get your brother, don't worry." Remus smiled

"Good. If anything happened to him, I'd never be able to live with myself."

* * *

Dusk didn't arrive as soon as Elizabeth had hoped. She'd finished a few portions of the Wolfsbane potion for Remus, packed everything she needed to go to Hogwarts, including the textbooks she'd already bought in Diagon Alley. Aslan was curled up in his cage and ready to leave when the ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts professor told his Goddaughter it was time to leave. She quickly put on Draco's ring and the mysterious necklace and sighed looking at her scars in the mirror. Ella exited her room with her trunk floating behind her, her feline's cage and her broom and hand. In the front yard, quite a few people had come to escort her - and ultimately, Harry - someplace safe. A tall black man, grabbed all of the Slytherin's things and apparated somewhere, then came back empty handed. Everyone mounted their brooms and headed in Harry's general direction.

Number four Private Drive was someplace Elizabeth never thought she'd have to visit. She knew how much Harry hated it and how much he didn't want his sister to see its horror. While everyone stayed quiet in the sitting room littered with doilies, Lupin and Evans made their way upstairs. Remus unlocked all the unnecessary locks on her brother's door with a simple Alohomora, silently cringing at the Dursley's attitude towards their nephew. Harry was wide awake.

"Professor Lupin!" Harry said with a wide smile, not believing it was him

"It's not professor anymore, Harry. It's good to see you." Remus smiled back "Someone else is here for you."

"How do you survive in here?" Liz said absent-minded as she entered the room, eyes glazing over everything

"Liz!" Harry smiled, tackling his sister in a hug

"Personal space, please?" she chuckled, quickly hugging him back

"Wait, what are you doing here?"

"Take a guess, boy-wonder."

Harry smiled wide and immediately began to pack his things. Soon after, he, Lupin and Ella were making their way downstairs to where three other people were waiting much to Harry's surprise. The Slytherin and her godfather introduced them.

"Harry, this is Alastor Moody."

"I know him." Harry told Remus

"Don't confuse me with that punk who possessed me, Potter." Moody grunted, ignored by Remus

"This is Nymphadora." Lupin said, pointing to the only woman in the group. She was a young witch with bubblegum pink hair

"Lupin, you're asking for it." she warned, shaking her head

"She prefers, Tonks."

"So would you if your mother named you Nymphadora!"

Harry and Elizabeth withheld a chuckle. Remus then pointed to the same tall black man who took care of Liz's luggage earlier that night.

"And this is Kingsley Shackleblot."

"Pleasure." Harry said politely

"If you're done with gettin' acquainted, I'd like to get a move on before the Death Eaters find out we're here - mind you, these Muggles wouldn't be a great loss." Moody said sharply

"Quite right." Lupin said, then turned to Shacklebolt "Kingsley, Harry's trunk is upstairs."

"Are we in danger?" Harry asked as Kingsley walked up the stairs

"Don't let stumpy-leg here scare ya, Harry. He always thinks something's about to jump out of the bushes and hex 'im." Tonks chuckled "He gets a little paranoid."

"It's not paranoia, it's called experience." Moody replied

"I think that magic eye's affected your brain for too long, Lazy-Eye."

Harry and Elizabeth smiled at each other. Lupin rolled his eyes. Everyone then went outside in the front yard where even more witches and wizards were waiting to escort Elizabeth and Harry. Even the Slytherin wasn't expecting this many people for bringing two children to a simple location.

"Is this all for us?" Liz asked, looking around

"Yes, m'mam!" Tonks smiled "Quite a lot of people volunteered to come and get ya. If you hadn't noticed, you're kinda popular."

"Oh we've noticed." Harry sighed

"Hey, blue or pink?"

Suddenly, Tonks' hair went from bubblegum pink to sky blue in an instant. Both siblings blinked. Elizabeth realised that she was a Metamorphmagus - people like her were really rare, and quite incredible. Harry and Rose hesitated for a moment.

"Blue." they said simultaneously

"You think?" Tonks said

"All right, quiet everyone!" Moody said before the siblings could concur with Tonks "I want a close formation. It's a clear night, so I want high and fast. No going into clouds. If one of us is killed, keep flying and don't break rank."

"Such an optimist." Ella joked, making Tonks snort

"No kidding. There's nothing to worry about, just stick to me."

The nine wizards took flight on their brooms. The night sky was devoid of clouds, a pitch black blanket which mirrored the twins' hair, broken up by glittering specs of white. Everything was a muted shade, like a mat photograph in a dimly lit room. The silhouettes of nine people riding on brooms which glided and shimmered in the moonlight. The wind took locks of her hair and threw them behind her; occasionally they'd whip about her face when she'd change direction. Elizabeth smiled, always happy to be soaring through the skies on her Nimbus 2001.

The street they landed on was completely quiet, void of people. One street lamp lit the whole block, but it burnt out when Elizabeth glanced at it; the moon was now the only source of light. Harry and Ella jog up to Mad-Eye Moody who was waving them over, clutching a small piece of parchment in his hand. He held it out to them.

"Look at it, memorize it."

Number 12 Grimmauld Place

Order of the Phoenix

The place where it's hidden...

Harry and I looked at him strangely at the exact moment the piece of parchment burst into flame and its ashes blew away in the light breeze. Number 12 Grimmauld Place? Elizabeth looked around. The street name was Grimmauld Place, but there wasn't a house marked number 12. And what was the Order of the Phoenix? What did they mean 'hidden'? Suddenly, Lupin whispered something and the ground shook lightly, not enough to alarm anyone. From between the houses marked 11 and 13, appeared a third home marked with a golden twelve. Number 12 Grimmauld Place, was 'the place where it's hidden', but what was hiding inside? This so-called Order of the Phoenix?

The door closed behind Elizabeth, who walked in last. Tonks almost immediately tripped over a troll-legged umbrella stand which made a curtained portrait scream about 'mudbloods' and 'blood traitors'; it took a while for Remus to make the woman's voice quiet. Off the entrance door was a long dark hallway lit only by one crystal chandelier, its wallpaper and carpet beginning to peel off. The ghost of cobwebs and an inch-thick layer of dust could be seen everywhere - it seemed to be thoroughly cleaned very recently after a long time of neglect.

"Welcome, Harry - and Elizabeth - to your new home." Remus said to the girl's surprise "And the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix."

"New home? Remus what are you talking about?" Liz asked, slightly alarmed.

Was she never going to be able to go back to the cottage? Lupin pulled her away after Mrs. Weasley hugged her, then left to gush over Harry - he'd always been the favourite out of the two. However this didn't annoy Elizabeth, it simply made her more eager to prove herself. Remus held her at arms length.

"You cannot stay at the cottage anymore, Elizabeth."

"Why not? Is it because of those stupid Dementors? Because I think I dealt with those quite well, thank you very much."

"Yes, you did remarkably. But this isn't my decision, even though I agree with it." Remus admitted

"Then whose idea is it, then? Dumbledore's?" Liz said, annoyed

"Yes, he thinks it wiser and safer for you to be here."

"Why do you all just blindly follow what he says? Every time I go see him for answers he just gives me some cryptic reply about a potential answer that could possibly help me. Do you know how many times he's just confused me more - can't he just give me a simple response to a simple question?"

"It's best if you don't question him, Liz. He has his reasons." Lupin said "Now go upstairs, I have a meeting to attend to."

"For this Order of the Phoenix? I don't see why I can't join you." Elizabeth said "I mean I did survive Voldemort on multiple occasions."

"Don't worry, Elizabeth. Just go upstairs - they'll explain everything."

"They?"

Elizabeth walked forward with her brother down the long hallway. To their left, about halfway down, Liz spotted a large amount of people sitting around a long rectangular table - she didn't see any faces. At the end of the dark corridor were two large staircases - one going down, one going up. The walls upstairs were lined with the heads of at least five house elves mounted on plaques of dark wood. On the first landing there was at least three rooms; Elizabeth and Harry entered the second, being pulled in by Hermione. It was illuminated better than the other rooms, a fireplace lit up the multiple mirrors and the large windows covering the entire wall facing the street. A grand piano was placed in the corner of the room, a worn-out bench sitting in front of it, and being said piano was a large tapestry that covered the entire wall. Faces upon faces with names and dates were shown on the wall - Liz looked closer when she entered; it was the black family tree. She noticed Draco on the wall and smiled. On the far side of the room were two love seats facing each other in front of the fireplace from which Ron had jumped up upon laying his eyes on his friends. He had grown a considerable amount and was now taller than everyone in the room.

"You must be so furious with us!" Hermione said, hugging both Harry and Elizabeth "I'm sorry we couldn't tell you guys more in our letters, but Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you. We heard everything-"

"Did you two really fight off a pair of Dementors each?" Ron butted in

"Don't worry, they have no case against you; I looked it up. You were just defending yourselves, they can't expel you!"

"Hermione, let them breathe... So, how've you two been?"

"Have you been attacked?" Harry asked, ignoring the question

"I'm fine, thanks." Liz said, snarky

"What? By Dementors? No, we've been here the whole time. We here about a week after last term."

"Wait what? A week after last term - why didn't Dumbledork send for us?"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other with a knowing look.

"I suppose he wanted you to stay with Lupin, Liz. And you with the Muggles, Harry." Ron finally said

"He had people from the order tailing you though." Hermione added

"A big help that was." Harry scoffed bitterly

"See, I knew they'd be mad." the Gryffindor witch said to Ron. She then turned back to the siblings "Harry, Liz, we are sorry... But Dumbledore-"

"Made you swear, yeah I got it."

"Look at least you're here now." Ron continued unnecessarily, then looked questioningly towards the Slytherin "You seem to be fairly calm about this, Liz."

"Don't mistake my stoical expression for indifference, Ronald." Elizabeth said sharply, her tone cold "I am in no way pleased with this."

"How are you guys allowed to know, but Liz and I are kept in the dark?" Harry asked loudly, walking over to Hedwig's cage on the window sill

"We don't, Mum won't let us in the meetings. Says-"

"So what!? You're still here together!" Elizabeth snapped, angrily rising from her seat "Harry and I have been stuck in a black hole, completely cut off. You'd expect Remus to tell me things, so I could at least convey something to my brother, but no! We've been hiding in bushes, sneaking out into town, listening to Muggle news in the hopes of hearing a tiny damn shred of information about Voldemort!"

Ella was fuming, face turned a deep shade of scarlet. Her hands were balled into fists, but her posture was straight as a board. She seemed calm, restrained in her anger for once.

"Everyday, when I go outside for a walk, when I go do groceries, go shopping for books, I've been looking over my shoulder - we've been looking over our shoulders - expecting to have some fucking Death Eater pop out with a wand pointed at our hearts and shouting Avada Kedavra! And all the while we can't have a single clue to what's going on? Yeah, that's rich. We can save the Sorcerer's Stone, get rid of Riddle, save Sirius and both your skins from the Dementors, see Cedric die in front of our eyes while just sit there and be fucking useless, but we can't be trusted to know what's happening with the people who are plotting to KILL US!?"

Ron quietly and slowly stood from where he was sitting with his mouth hanging open, looking dumbfounded. Hermione looked between the two siblings - especially at a furious Elizabeth - eyes welling up with tears. Rose closed her eyes and breathed deeply, calming herself.

"And you people wonder why I'm only faithful to myself."


	71. Family

The room fell silent once more. Hermione's pale brown eyes remained glossy with tears as she looked between Harry and Elizabeth, who both looked furious. Ron was terrified, his blue eyes refusing to leave the Slytherin's face in fear that she'd attack him if she had the chance. Harry was furious of course and agreed with every word his sister had just blurted out, but he looked nowhere near as outraged at her. The girl's ivory cheeks had flushed red in anger, her hands were balled into fists, white marks left behind in her palms, her feet were spread apart taking a strong stance yet her posture dictated the opposite. While her face and hands displayed her anger, her straight back dictated her poise. Even in fury, Elizabeth managed to stay composed. Even in fury, she refused to let others know the full extent of her feelings.

Suddenly, the anger surging through the room was broken by a loud popping noise behind Harry and Liz. Both of them turned to see that Fred and George had materialised behind them, stupid grins on their faces. They'd obviously heard the Slytherin yelling at the top of her lungs a few minutes ago.

"'Ello, Harry, Ellie." Fred said, then swung his arm over Liz's shoulder "Thought we heard the ranting of our tragic Princess."

"You might want to consider anger management." George suggested, doing the same as his brother

"I see you've passed your apparition tests." Ella said, calming down in the Weasley twins' presence

"With distinction." they said proudly

Just then the doors burst open to reveal Ginny, a smile very present on her face.

"Hey you two, thought I heard Elizabeth." she said

"It was kind of hard to miss, Missy." George chuckled

"Yeah, sorry about that... got carried away." Rose said sheepishly

"Hey, it's all right, I'd be mad too." Hermione smiled "But you two really haven't bee missing much; they don't tell us anything."

"Shame too." Ron sighed "Wonder what Snape's been up to."

"Wait, professor Snape is here?"

"Yeah, he's on our side remember?" Harry said bitterly, to which his sister replied with an eye roll "Who else is here?"

"McGonagall, Hagrid, pretty much the entire school staff." Fred said sitting down on the sofa with Elizabeth in between him and his brother "Bill and Charlie are even here."

"Where's Percy?" Harry asked

Everyone in the room went quiet, especially Ron, Fred, George and Ginny who all shared knowing looks with Hermione. Obviously mentioning Percy wasn't the best thing the Boy-Who-Lived could have done at that very moment.

"Well, as Ellie predicted in second year, Percy's being a big git right now." Fred said angrily

"For once I wish I wasn't right." the Slytherin sighed "What happened?"

"He and Dad kinda had a falling out..." George sighed "Just don't mention it in front of Mum. She still breaks down."

"How'd that happen?" Harry questioned

"Fudge promoted him to junior assistant." Hermione said "Youngest one ever."

"What's wrong with that?"

"Well, Dumbledore's name is mud in the Ministry these days. Yours too, by the way." Ron stated, pointing at Harry then Liz "They don't want to listen to him, all because of You-Know-Who. They still don't think he's back. Dad sided with Dumbledore, Percy with Fudge."

"It's all because of the Prophet, I suppose?" Rose said irritated, running her hands over her face

"Yeah, Percy takes it very seriously." George sighed

"What about the Prophet?" Harry said, confused

"You haven't been reading it, have you?" Hermione asked

"Of course not."

"Dumbledore's name isn't the only one that's gone downhill since we saw Him come back, Harry." Ella said "They're taking shots at us too, the cowards."

"Why?"

"To discredit us, you knob. They don't want to believe us... They don't want to believe He's back."

The room fell silent once again, each and every one of them was in deep thought about what was bound to happen. Fred and George continued to hold on to their Slytherin Princess, fearing that she was going to be gone at any given moment and that they'd never see her get caught in one of their pranks again. Their heads fell to the girl's shoulder - she smiled at them and leaned back, sleep creeping up on her. Hermione and Ron stared at her and her brother. For once, they were afraid that they couldn't help them no matter how much they wanted to. Maybe this was as far as the Golden Quartet went. And the siblings? They simply felt defeated. At least they had their Godparents to rely on.

Later in the evening, Molly Weasley had called for all the kids to make their way into the dining room on the first floor, where the meeting for the Order of the Phoenix was happening a few hours prior. Elizabeth and Ron ran down the stairs together, both always in the mood for food. Hermione, Harry and Ginny followed behind slowly chatting avidly. Suddenly, as they passed by the same painting that had began shouting earlier, the curtains burst open and the screeching resumed.

"Filthy Mudblood, Half breeds, blood traitors! How dare you befoul the House of Black with your filthy feet on my floors, and your-"

"Give it a rest will you!" a male voice shouted from the dining room

Elizabeth closed the curtains with the help of Harry and Hermione, then made their way towards the sound. The dining room featured a long wooden table that was almost the full length of the room. A large dresser featured all of the Black family's fine china, the crest shining silver in the center. Standing at the end of the dining table was Sirius Black, looking much better than he did last time the four had seen him last. His hair was shorter and cleaner, natural dark waves bouncing off his shoulders. Black's once gaunt face was now fuller and seemed younger than before, yet the ghost of Azkaban's effect on him was still there.

"Hello, you two. See you've met my dear mother?" he smiled cheekily

"She's charming, Sirius." Liz chuckled

"Thought you'd like her."

Sirius brought the raven-haired twins into a giant bear hug, happy to see them. He then sat himself at the head of the table, a familiar twinkle in his pale grey eyes. Harry, Liz, Hermione and Ron all sat down at the table as well. Harry's gaze wandered around the room, taking in all the dark wood and shadows of cobwebs between each piece of porcelain on the shelf.

"This is your house?" he asked

"My family's, yeah." the man replied "Never thought I'd be back here. You see, my grandfather put hundreds of hexes on this place, perfect for hiding. No one can find it unless its address is written down by someone who's been here. Dumbledore thought it'd be a good place for headquarters."

"It's beautiful." Elizabeth whispered, contemplating everything

"Yes, it is. But I never really liked being here much. So how ya been, you two?"

"All right." Harry lied, feeling quite the opposite

"I've been better. I think good food will solve everything though." Ella joked

"Yes, Molly's cooking is quite the big deal." Sirius smiled "Sorry, about all the secrecy by the way, but we had to make sure."

Just then, Tonks walked into the room, her hair blue instead of the bright pink that she had before. She sat down beside Ginny and across from Harry.

"I like your new hair, Tonks." Ginny commented

"Yeah, Harry and Elizabeth thought it was good too." the Metamorphmagus said "I was thinking yellow, but thought against it; stands out too much."

"No, bright blue is much more modest." Sirius chuckled

Mrs. Weasley then walked into the room with her son Bill carrying a few trays of food and began piling it on everyone's plates. Mr. Weasley soon followed and grinned happily at Harry and Elizabeth.

"Harry, Elizabeth, so great to see you." he said "Two Dementors each? Gave us quite a fright."

"I'd be more worried about what the Muggles did to Harry, than those Dementors; they can take care of those easily." Mrs. Weasley said

"You know, I'm surprised. I would've thought the first thing you two would ask about stepping in here would be Voldemort." Sirius commented, starting to eat as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sat down

"No, Sirius! They don't need to know; they're safe now and that's all that matters!"

"Well, we-"

"He's not in the Order." Mrs. Weasley interrupted Ella

"Since when do you have to be in the order to ask questions?" Sirius defended

"Molly, a few questions can't hurt... They deserve to know." Mr. Weasley said

"It's not your job to protect them..."

"Look, I just want to know what's going on." Ella said with a loud sigh "I'm sure Harry wants the same thing."

Harry nodded. There was a moment of silence in the room. Fred and George walked into the dining room and sat down to eat with the rest.

"Very well... but no more than what's necessary." Mrs. Weasley conceded

"Well then... What do you want to know?" Sirius asked the twins

"First of all, what's the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry asked

"It's a secret society, Harry." Arthur Weasley began "Devoted to fighting You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters. Thanks to you and your sister, we have a head start on Him. He didn't expect you to survive your last encounter. No one is supposed to know He's returned."

"Most don't believe it, regardless." Sirius sighed

"But still, the last person He wanted to know he had returned was Dumbledore. Again, you two ruined that for him didn't you? Not an hour after his return the Order was informed." Arthur continued "Right now we're trying to convince as many people that He has indeed come back, but that's proving a little bit tricky."

"Fudge still refuses to believe that You-Know-Who is back." Bill suddenly piped up

"Why?" Harry asked, his sister too entranced by her food to ask any pertinent questions

"Dumbledore - Fudge is afraid of him." Sirius said simply "Thinks Dumbledore is gonna overthrow him or something."

"Couldn't be further from the truth, of course." Mr. Weasley continued "Plus, Cornelius is flat out scared."

"He should be." Rose said snidely

"The Ministry is in no condition right now to handle You-Know-Who's return. And I'm afraid that Dumbledore is loosing his footing at the Ministry."

"They've already demoted him from Chief of the Wizard's High Court." Molly Weasley added

"He says he doesn't mind as long as they don't remove him from the chocolate frog cards." Bill chuckled

Elizabeth and the rest of the kids managed a half-smile at the comment.

"But this is exactly what You-Know-Who wants." Arthur went on; Elizabeth was getting tired of hearing him talk "We're fighting amongst ourselves when we should be gathering our strength. He is biding his time, gathering his forces. His plans are ripping; his plan to strike down all resistance and to seize control of this world and all who live within it for ever. But fortunately for us He does not have that type of power yet. Yet time is on his side. He is fast becoming powerful; He, Himself, is already stronger than He was when His powers broke. Your last encounter with Voldemort has taught him one thing. Your survival against his assaults was more than luck of chance. He still doesn't understand how you have escaped Him time and time again."

"Its the lack of this knowledge that protects you, Liz, Harry." Sirius added, finally breaking Arthur Weasley's ranting

"Can we join the Order?" Harry asked

"Doubtful, brother. We probably have to be an 'overage wizard, Harry'." Ellie said in a condescending tone

"That tone isn't necessary, Elizabeth." Molly said sternly "But you're right. You two get into enough trouble on your own, there's no need to put you in the midst of it."

The next morning, Fred and George's loud snoring woke Elizabeth in time for her alarm to go off - she'd charmed a small trinket in the room to ring when it reached a certain time. Groggily getting out of the bed that had been set up for her, she stretched and walked over to the adjoining bathroom to take a much needed shower. the girl stared at herself in the mirror quite a while after, looking at the scars that littered her body and recalling all of the events that had caused them; getting slashed by a mountain Troll in a girls bathroom, falling down the hole in the Whomping Willow to help Ron, her multiple Quidditch injuries mostly caused by Gryffindors, the recent events of the Triwizard tournament... Voldemort's attempt to kill her. The Slytherin sighed. These scars bothered her a lot, but they were souvenirs of things she'd went through and survived - there was no way she was going to get rid of them, even if she could. Rose got dressed and went back into the bedroom where Fred and George were still snoring softly and went over to the dresser to collect her boyfriend's ring and her mother's mystery necklace.

Ella had been spending a lot of time in this room, alongside the Drawing Room where she'd play piano with her sister, or enlarge her guitar to accompany Hermione in a random song she felt like playing. The third floor of number 12 Grimmauld Place had become her new home, but she wasn't used to it yet - far from it. she felt out of place. Ron, Hermione and Harry were almost always together in a room, talking about things they'd hush up about when Rose would walk into the room. Molly and Arthur Weasley seemed more concerned with her brother than with her, even though they'd been through the same things. During the summer she was used to seeing Remus all the time because they were living together, but now that he was almost always on missions for the Order she's scarcely get to see her Godfather. The Slytherin wasn't even able to sit in the same room as him and contently read in silence. Instead, she spent most of her time with either Fred and George, hiding in their shared bedroom and helping them create new products for the joke shop they wanted to open up - Ellie was finally in on their big secret - or with Sirius, chatting about his and the other Marauders' lives when they were at Hogwarts, before all hell broke loose. But even then, it seemed as if she were a stranger to them, or maybe she just felt odd living in a house were Walburga Black had burned her son's face off the Family Tapestry, a house where anyone who didn't meet the correct criteria was frowned upon.

Downstairs, Hermione, Ginny and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were already awake and preparing breakfast for the early risers. The smell of a classic English breakfast wafted through the air as Liz crossed the threshold and sat down at the same spot as yesterday. She was disappointed to see that Remus wasn't there, but she wasn't surprised. However, her smile came back when Sirius came into the room and ruffled her half-dried hair, taking a seat beside her.

"Morning, Liz. Sleep well?" he asked happily

"Like a baby, for once." the girl chuckled

"Oh, good morning Elizabeth." Molly smiled, walking into the dining room with a large pot of tea "Would you like some tea?"

"Please."

"Are you ready for today?"

"I think so, I mean the real question is 'do I wear something more appropriate for the Ministry?'." Rose joked

"You look fine. Besides, the Ministry doesn't deserve anything fancy." Sirius winked

Elizabeth smiled and rolled her eyes at the man, and dropped a few cubes of sugar in her tea. As she was pouring in a little milk, Harry walked into the room and greeted everyone before sitting down next to Sirius to eat breakfast with everyone. Soon after, Fred, George, Tonks and Ron came downstairs to join them and eat before the raven-haired siblings had to leave for the Ministry - today was their hearing for what they'd done a few weeks prior to save their own skins. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley kissed each other goodbye as Sirius stood leaning against the doorway, secretly pulling a face at them. Harry and Elizabeth smiled.

"Now, Harry, Elizabeth, I don't want either of you worrying about a thing." Mrs. Weasley said "Everything will be all right."

"We know." Harry answered

"I'll have them back before noon, Molly, don't worry." Arthur said with a small smile

Mr. Weasley walked towards the door, leaving the two siblings and Ron and Hermione standing beside Sirius, who was still leaning in the doorway. Molly left to clean the kitchen.

"You two feeling okay?" Sirius asked

"Yeah, no... Not really." Liz said with a half-smile

"Me either" Harry chuckled nervously

"Look, I don't want you two to worry. They're not going to expel you, but-"

"What?"

"Even if they do, and things keep getting worse, both of you should know you always have a home here." Black smiled "And no Liz, I don't think Rem would mind. I think he'd stay here too."

Both Harry and Elizabeth smiled, actually feeling happy or comforted at the notion that if anything should happen, that they'd always have a home - a safe home - to come to at night.

"It'll just be us three - or four if Remus stays of course. But you really shouldn't have to worry, Dumbledore isn't gonna let the famous Harry Potter and Elizabeth Evans fall behind Fudge, now is he? Remember, no matter what happens, Rem and I will always be there for you two... You have a family."

The twins smiled and nodded, ready to face the Ministry. Elizabeth suddenly bounced toward Sirius, hugging him around his middle. She felt his deep chuckle through the fabric of his suit and his rough fingers ruffle her long loose waves. It was one of those rare moments were Ella would permit herself to showing emotion. It was one of those times were Ella couldn't contain her happiness and her relief that she could count on someone other than herself. Harry soon did the same when his sister pulled back, teary-eyed.

"Now get outta here, kids. You're bothering me." Sirius winked

"Good luck you two!" Hermione smiled, hugging them both "Don't worry, they don't have a case against you."

"See you when you get back Ellie!" Fred and George cheered, their heads poking out over Sirius' shoulders

Elizabeth and Harry left number 12 Grimmauld place soon after. The former had never been so nervous in her entire life...


	72. The Wizengamot

To say that the Ministry of Magic was large was a complete understatement. The only word Elizabeth could think of to describe it however, was 'grandiose'. Jammed with hundreds upon hundreds of witches and wizards of all ages, the Entrance Hall to the Ministry was a bustling center of activity. Paper airplanes soared above Arthur, Elizabeth and Harry's heads, their pale range of colours standing out against the dark green tiles covering the floors, walls and sky-high arches as they made their way to different departments. At the center, serving as a kind of roundabout, was a an enormous ivory fountain with a statue of a golden witch, wizard, centaur and house elf - this was the famed Fountain of Magical Brethren. Below, Galleons, Sickles and Knuts shone in its swirling waters.

"Wow." the twins said simultaneously, wide green eyes scanning everything

"Come on, you two. It's easy to get lost." Arthur said, pushing the children forward

Suddenly, through the crowd of witches and wizards, came the tall Kingsley Shacklebolt clad in his usual traditional robes that reminded Elizabeth of all the people in the pictures of Egypt Ron kept flaunting around in their third year. The man seemed out of breath.

"Arthur! Arthur!"

"Kingsley? What are you doing down here?" Mr. Weasley said confused

"This just arrived a moment ago." Kingsley panted, handing Arthur an envelope with a familiar seal

"Merlin's beard! They've changed the time - we should have been there five minutes ago! Good thing we came early."

"Why the hell would they change the time?" Elizabeth asked

"I don't know, Elizabeth. Let's just hurry - here, let's squeeze into this lift."

Arthur, Harry and Elizabeth entered the nearest lift, the doors closing behind them as they did so. In a matter of moments, the three wizards were rushing down one of the dark hallways of the Ministry of Magic's basement. There was no one there except for them, and this was making all of them exceedingly nervous. What if they'd started without them and said it was a sign of the siblings' guilt? The three stopped in front of a large door and Arthur ushered Harry inside since he was up first. In the meantime, Mr. Weasley and Elizabeth paced nervously outside the large wooden door wondering what was going on inside the courtroom. Some time later, Dumbledore arrived and burst into Harry's hearing without a word.

On the outside, Elizabeth was cool and collected looking as she calmly paced the area in front of the doors. Once again, her poise baffled people, in this case it was Arthur Weasley. On the inside however, she was a complete mess. What should she say when she got inside? What did it matter, they probably wouldn't believe her. But they had to! You-Know-Who was back for sure. What would the Ministry's reaction be to what she had to say, to how she even managed to perform a corporeal Patronus? Hopefully they'd be impressed more than offended. Was Elizabeth even wearing decent clothing?

Soon, Harry came out of the court room. His sister didn't even have any time to ask how it went before Arthur shoved her inside per the request of some nameless Ministry official. Ellie recognised the room she was in immediately - it was the same one she'd been in the previous year when she and her brother had snooped inside their Headmaster's pensieve. Luckily, he was seated just beside her. The girl was lead to a chair at the center of the room, surrounded by stands of people in odd hats and long plum robes. She stared a the cuffs that remained unattached to her wrists wearily.

"As I told your brother; you're late."

Elizabeth looked up and immediately pointed out Cornelius Fudge as the speaker, who was sitting directly in front of her. To his far left, was Percy. The Slytherin restrained herself from glaring at him and composed herself, staring back at the Minister for Magic.

"As I understand, Harry was late. But since my meeting was at a later time and my brother's didn't last as long as expected, I'm quite on time, Minister." Elizabeth said, deadpan

"Very well, just like the previous I want this done quick." Fudge said to the entire room, gazing intensely at the young girl "The accused being presented, let us begin... Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August, witness for the defense is Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore."

"Yes, I am." the man said softly

"Then the charges are as followed: the accused knowingly and deliberately produced a Patronus Charm outside the guidelines of her permitted magic usage on August the second at one thirty-five in the afternoon." Fudge stated "You are Elizabeth Rose Granger?"

"No." Elizabeth said truthfully

"No?"

"The name I had been using is indeed Elizabeth Rose Granger. However, during the four years that I have been at Hogwarts, certain events and research that I've done, have proven to me that I'm not Mr. and Mrs. Granger's biological daughter. As far as I'm concerned, my name is Elizabeth Rose Evans."

"Evans being your mother's maiden name?" Fudge asked

"That is correct." I answered

"You don't use your father's name?"

Something clenched in Ella's chest at the mention of her father. She had known the love of a father, but that was just it. She'd known the love of a father, not her father. It didn't stop her from growing up all right, but deep inside it was something her heart craved. The Slytherin sure wasn't expecting much, after all he hadn't been there her entire life, but if she could just see him, touch him, talk to him... Be proud to bear his last name.

"I don't know who my father is, but that's not the point. Isn't this supposed to be a hearing about my improper use of magic, Minister?"

"Yes, of course." the man cleared his throat "Moving on... This was your first offense?"

"Yes, sir."

"Knowing full well that you aren't permitted to use magic outside of school until the age of seventeen?"

"I wouldn't have performed it if-"

Fudge raised his hand to quiet her, hushing the glaring girl. Elizabeth took this time to wonder why Dumbledore wasn't saying anything. Surely he was able to lend a hand right about now?

"But you do admit to producing a full-fledged Patronus?" Fudge insisted, ignoring the girl's comment

"Begrudgingly, sir."

Suddenly, a woman stood in the crowd, seemingly anxious to ask a question to the defendant. Fudge rolled his eyes.

"Your brother produced a full fledged Patronus, a stag to be exact. What was yours?"

"A doe, m'mam." Rose said

"What a coincidence..."

"Oh, it's not a coincidence. Harry's father's Patronus was a stag, our mother's was a doe."

"And you're only, what, fifteen? Impressive." the woman continued "There aren't many judges in the court room that sit before you that could produce such a Patronus. Fifteen... wow..."

"Yes, yes, yes, very impressive." Fudge said, fury clearly present on his face "But I'm afraid the more impressive the worse. You are aware that Muggles could have been nearby?"

"In the middle of the forest? Unlikely..." Elizabeth said sharply

"Mrs. Gr- Evans, why did you produce the Patronus charm?" the woman continued

"Because I was defending myself against two abnormally large Dementors."

A large murmur fell upon the crowd of judges, who all look both confused and scared about what Elizabeth had just told them. Hopefully, Liz thought, they believe me. Suddenly, another woman stood - Madam Bones.

"Dementors? In Yorkshire?"

"Yes, I thought we'd hear another fairy tale like this." the Minister sighed, rolling his eyes

"Minister, I do not understand how you could be so blind-"

"Enough!" Fudge interrupted Ella "I'm sure it would be a very entertaining story, Granger. But the fact remain that you don't have any proof."

"Why else would I perform a Patronus charm if there weren't any Dementors? I'm not stupid, I know the rules and wouldn't disobey them unless necessary!"

"Excuse me, Minister..." Dumbledore spoke up, raising from his seat "But we do have a witness."

"Oh, yes? A tree?"

"No, a woodpecker."

From the entrance door came a woman with a tight bun of greying brown hair on her head and robes of deep red almost touching the ground. Her nose was pointed and her chin was too, but her cheekbones seemed to sink into her face. Immediately, nearly everyone rose from their seats to greet the guest who stood beside Elizabeth, a smile on her face. Cornelius Fudge looked ready to burst.

"Your full name... for procedure." he said through clenched teeth

"Ex-Minister Millicent Bagnold." the woman said to Liz's surprise. She was not expecting Dumbledore to have a minister on his side

"I was not aware that you were near Miss Granger's location, Minister."

"As you know, I am an Animagus and can assume the form of a woodpecker. I often enjoy flying around Britain, it just so happened that the forest Miss Evans was in is my favourite location."

"Very well, did you or did you not see a Dementor the day in question?"

"No, I saw two." Bagnold said. Ellie wondered if she saw the Thestral as well "Felt them as well - you know what that's like, don't you Minister?"

"Yes, highly unpleasant." Fudge said curtly "Thank you, Minister. If that is all, you may it depart."

The woman nodded and exited the room. Fudge rifled through a few parchments, obviously rattled. How could he go against the word of the Minister who was in power when Voldemort first fell? Liz smiled unconsciously.

"Not very convincing, I'd say."

"I wouldn't say that, Minister." Madam Bones insisted "She is after all fully capable of seeing Dementors, and is the previous Ministerof Magic."

"So, two Dementors, just happen to float into the middle of a Yorkshire forest and attack this girl. Is that what I'm hearing? While the Dementors remain in place at Azkaban, doing everything we ask them." Cornelius Fudge scoffed "Have I got it right so far? I think we'd remember if I sent two Dementors outside, wouldn't you say?"

"Unless you didn't send them." Ella said snidely

"Excuse me?"

"I believe, Cornelius, that Elizabeth is asking who inside the Ministry would have ordered such an attack if it was not you. Or if the Dementors are taking orders from someone other than those in the Ministry." Dumbledore said softly "You already have my opinions on this matter."

Fudge's eyes were venomous as he stared down at the Hogwarts Headmaster and the young Slytherin student, whose smug look on her face was clearly not improving the Minister's mood.

"If there were Dementors, which I doubt-"

"You've heard from an eyewitness. Call her back if you misunderstood her statement. If not, Elizabeth awaits a verdict."

Fudge stared at the young girl, anger boiling. He looked as if he were about to protest, say some other absurdity, but it seemed he'd advised against it since he straightened his back and took a breath.

"Very well. All those in favour of the conviction?" he said finally, raising his hand along six others. The man's eyes burned with fury "All those in favour of clearing all charges?"

The rest of the judges in the court room rose their hands, them being twenty or so people. Elizabeth couldn't help but smile; she'd been officially cleared of all charges! With a curt nod to Fudge, Dumbledore rose out of his seat and left without the slightest look in Elizabeth's direction. She didn't think much of it. After all, he'd helped her win her case and that's all she cared about.

The Slytherin walked out of the court room behind the Minister of Magic who seemed to be in a hurry to get out of the location where he failed to convict the Potter twins. As usual, Mr. Weasley couldn't keep his mouth shut and kept asking the siblings question after question. He was currently fascinated with the fact that Harry and Ella had both been trialed before the entire Wizengamot. However, his words of surprise were cut short when he, Harry and Elizabeth nearly bumped into the Minister... and Lucius Malfoy.

"Well, well, if it isn't the Patronus Potters." Malfoy sneered

"Lucius." Arthur said curtly, though obviously disturbed by the man's presence

"Arthur. The Minister was just telling me about your narrow escape from conviction."

"I'd hardly call it narrow, sir." Elizabeth resisted

"Yes, you know, it's interesting how you two always seem to wriggle out of holes... almost snakelike." the blond man said, eyes drifting between both children, examining them

"Well, we're good at escaping, but of course you knew that." Harry said, referring to the situation in Little Hangleton

"Indeed... Pardon me, but where did you get this stunning ring, Elizabeth?"

It might have seemed like a random question to Harry and Arthur Weasley, but it caught Elizabeth off guard. Of course Lucius Malfoy had noticed the ring of intertwined snakes and not the simple silver band that was on the same hand. Panic got the better of her and her eyes got slightly wider. Draco had found this ring in an unimportant box at home, the last time it was ever out was when his grandmother was wearing it. Surely Lucius, being a child at the time, didn't remember his mother's ring?

"Got it for Christmas from a friend." Ella said, trying to sound calm

"Interesting..." the man said, eyeing the girl suspiciously. He turned to Fudge "Well, Minister, might we continue this some place where the fouls of the young can no longer hear us?"

The Minister nodded, and both men left. Arthur and Harry growled at the man and moved forward as well, Ella following slowly behind. Could Lucius Malfoy really have recognised one of his family heirlooms on an enemy's hand? Would he go home and confront Draco? How could Liz even get out of this situation? Eventually, Harry snapped his sister out of her daze and dragged her into the left and out of the ministry. The questions kept coming however. Would Draco and Ella have to break up? Would they make their relationship public? No, that was a horrible idea. Had times been better and families on different terms... maybe that would have been possible.

* * *

Back at number 12 Grimmauld Place, the atmosphere was still as cheerful as it was when the siblings had left that morning, if not more. In the drawing room on the first floor, Ginny, Fred, George, and Ron were all waiting impatiently for Liz and Harry to return. When they did and told them the news, smiles on their faces, the twins rose Ellie on their shoulders and began spinning as they chanted, "They got off! They got off!" over and over again. Ginny was singing along as well.

"I knew you two would get off! You always do." Ron said happily

"Yeah but it was a close call for a minute." Harry admitted

"Seriously, Fudge was beyond angry." Liz giggled, still on the Weasley twin's shoulders. They'd stopped spinning at least

"Well of course he wasn't. Dumbledore's prized students got off right under his nose!" Ronald continued

"Well, I wouldn't say he prizes me..."

"True, you've got Snape for that."

Liz rolled her eyes at Ron, but pride swelled in her chest.

"I just wish he'd talked to me." Harry complained, still on about Dumbledore "Or at least looked at me..."

Suddenly, white-hot pain rushed to Ella's lip making her gasp loudly. Both twins immediately set her down on the couch and stared at her, eyes full of concern. Her scar, as well as Harry's, had began acting up again.

"You all right?" Fred and George said simultaneously

"Yeah, I'm fine." Rose sighed "I just think someone else just found out we got off."

"And he doesn't seem to happy about it." her brother added

"Wicked! I wish I'd get to tick off You-Know-Who as much as I want and know when he finds out!" George laughed

"Trust me, you don't."

Just then, Hermione walked in happily holding two parcels and a big handful of letters.

"Lizzie, Ron, you both got parcels." Hermione said, throwing them their respective mail "And everyone's Hogwarts letters are somewhere in this pile. Oh, forgot something downstairs."

Hermione left the room and left everyone to open their letters and parcels, discussing the mystery behind the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher - they had no idea who it would be. Ella secretly hoped it was professor Snape, Dumbledore finally awarding him the position. Joking about how long they thought he or she would last, Elizabeth and Ronald both opened up their parcels and gasped at what they were holding. Fred and George ran over.

"No way..." Liz whispered

"What is it?" Harry asked

"They made us prefects..." Ron said quietly, not believing his eyes

In their hands were shiny badges, featuring a large 'P' in the center. Ron's was deep red and golden, whereas Liz's was silver and green to represent their houses. A smile on her face, she pinned it against her shirt and stood proudly just as Hermione burst into the room once more.

"Oh, I knew it!" she smiled, running over to hug Elizabeth "I've got one too!"

"That's fantastic, 'Mione! Look, Ron's got one too!"

"Ron? I mean... really?"

"Yeah... I don't believe it either." the ginger said, smiling

"Well, congratulations!"

"Come on!" Ginny chirped "You three have got to show the others!"

Being dragged out of the room, Ella, Ron and Hermione neglected to notice Harry moping about again, disappointed as to why Elizabeth was awarded a prefect badge and not him. He was also confused as to why Ron had gotten it instead. But currently, that didn't matter to Ellie. She was just happy to flaunt her new-found school authority to anyone who would let her, finally having something her brother didn't have.


	73. Stagnation and Decay

A celebratory feast was in order, not just because all the children were heading off back to Hogwarts the next day, but to celebrate Ron, Hermione and Elizabeth and their success in becoming prefects, as well as Harry and his sister for getting off on their ludicrous charges. Everyone was here sitting at the huge table with Mrs. Weasley's impeccable cooking filling dozens of serving plates in front of them. Even Remus was there, much to Ella's content; she'd missed him. Everyone toasted to the four children, ambiance music quietly playing in another room to drown out the sound of Walburga Black yelling about Mudbloods again.

Elizabeth almost forgot all about what was happening, looking around at everyone sitting at the table. Moody looked at irritated as ever, forced to be cheerful and forget the order for a moment - it made everyone laugh. Sirius was at his best, grey eyes shimmering with the youth he'd missed out on. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley couldn't get enough of gushing over Ron, whose ears had turned a particularly deep shade of red due to their pestering. Ginny and her twin brothers were in an avid conversation about pygmy puffs for some reason, which made Tonks join in and change her face into multiple different animals to change the subject. Harry and Liz were talking about Quidditch as usual, and how they'd try out for the captain's spot on their teams while Remus listened on, quietly joking around with Sirius across the table. This, Ella thought, is what family is.

The next morning, everything was chaotic. Fred and George had gotten the habit of waking all the kids up with some of their homemade fireworks, but they did this very late in the morning. Everyone was rushing around to get dressed, eat and get out the door before they missed the train at platform nine and three quarters at precisely eleven o'clock. Elizabeth barely remembered to put on her boots before leaving number 12 Grimmauld place that morning, and Harry had to throw her her ring and necklace from the top of the stairs since she actually forgot those. At the platform, children and parents were rushing around as well, either losing sight of a child or worrying about having too much luggage for the storage compartments or freaking out because their son or daughter was going away for an extended amount of time. Mrs. Weasley had escorted all the children to King's Cross station along with Padfoot, their "family dog". It was risky, and everyone knew it, but he insisted on seeing them all off to Hogwarts.

"Now you watch out after each other, you hear?" Molly said to everyone, then turned to her twin sons "And you two. I don't wanna hear a peep about you being out of line."

"Of course, Mum." George chirped

"How can we be when baby brother is a prefect?" Fred smiled

"Shut up, I'm not Percy." Ron growled

Everyone boarded the train after saying their last goodbyes to Molly and Padfoot and searched for an empty compartment for them to sit in. Elizabeth planned on joining them for a while, but really wanted to see Amir, her best friend. and well... her boyfriend. But she decided to keep that to herself for now and slip out later, claiming that she was going to change into her robes. Unfortunately, Hermione dragged her away to do it now so that they could pin their prefect badges on each other. Ella wondered who the other Slytherin prefect would be; hopefully it wasn't Parkinson.

"We have to go to the prefect carriage and report, you two." she said quickly

"What? Oh yeah, can't wait to see who the other prefects are." Liz smiled, then turned to Harry "We'll catch you later, all right?"

"You're leaving me?"

"I'm sure we won't have to stay there for the entire journey, but we have to go." Ron added sheepishly

"Fine, whatever." Harry sighed, following Ginny into a compartment

The trio of prefects left for their respective carriage so that they could be briefed by the Head Boy and Girl of their respective houses. Elizabeth, Ron and Hermione hadn't the faintest idea what to expect when they walked in to the compartment, but were surprised to see that it was slightly more luxurious than all the others. The seat seemed less hard and were a deep plum color, it smelled better and the wallpaper wasn't peeling off in some places. The sight of the other prefects didn't surprise anyone, however. Hufflepuff had appointed Ernie MacMillan and Hannah Abbott as their prefects, Ravenclaw had decided on Padma Patil and Anthony Goldstein and Slytherin had chosen...

"Draco?" Liz smiled

"Fancy meeting you here, sprout." Draco smirked

"Sprout? I'm not that short."

"Shorter than me."

There it was again, that crackling in the air that had always happened whenever the two got within a foot of each other. Even if Elizabeth was the Girl-Who-Lived and had a strong dislike for arrogant twats who prided themselves in making other people's lives miserable, he was just that - and there should have been nothing between them - but when he looked at her a certain way it was enough to make her heart swell and forget about all his flaws. The two looked at each other for quite a while, to the point where Ron and Hermione had to bring Ellie out of her "daze". Evans looked away shyly, Malfoy kept his cocky grin as he pulled the girl in for a quick side hug - he didn't want to draw too much attention.

With the questioning glances aside, the prefect meeting could finally begin. In all honesty, Elizabeth enjoyed it. She enjoyed being relayed trust and power, to use it as she wanted to. She told herself she would be a fair prefect until you crossed her, then she'd probably be as understanding as Snape when a student arrived late to class. Unfortunately, the meeting lasted the entire journey to Hogwarts and Liz couldn't go back to Harry or find Amir before they got to school, but at least she got to see her boyfriend, who'd grown more than handsome than she thought he could be.

The Slytherin table greeted the two prefects with a loud round of applause, contrary to other tables who only quietly congratulated their new superiors. As usual, Ella sat between Draco and Amir, who had a lot to say to her after the long summer holiday. Parkinson and Zabini were especially furious that they didn't get to be prefects and decided that glaring at the two would be a good idea. Malfoy reminded them he could deduct points.

"I was gonna find you on the train but the prefects meeting ran longer than I thought." Rose told Amir

"It is quite all right, Rose." the boy chuckled "How was the meeting?"

"It was nice actually. I think I'm going to enjoy being a prefect."

"It's because you get to be around me all the time?" Draco added in with a wink

"You wish it were the reason, Malfoy." Ella joked

"Rose, do you know who that is?"

Sitting at the spot where every Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher had sat in, was a short squat woman which resembled a very pale toad. She had a broad, flabby face, a wide, slack mouth, and little neck. Her eyes were bulging and pouchy, and in her mousy brown hair she wore a black velvet bow which reminded Elizabeth of a fly perched atop her head. Her thick, stubby fingers were adorned with several gaudy old rings and her clothing was all the same shade of sickly pink. She recognised that face immediately.

"I know her." Ella said disdainfully "She was one of the people who wanted me convicted at my trial."

"Oh, how'd that go?" Draco joined in much to Amir's annoyance

"I almost got my wand broken in half and expelled, thank Merlin there was a witness there to corroborate my story."

"Weren't you in the middle of the woods when it happened?"

"Yeah, well, apparently the woodpecker that was eating the tree next to me was someone in their Animagus form."

"How fortunate." Amir smiled "I do not know what I would have done if you had gotten expelled."

"Crash and burn? You can't live without me, kid." Ellie laughed, making Draco's gaze on the Egyptian harden

"You do realise that I am older than you."

"Does it even matter?"

Both friends laughed for a few minutes before the feast arrived on the table an Elizabeth began piling food on her plate. She hadn't gotten the opportunity to have a snack during the trip to school, so she was basically starving. Just like in her first year, people looked at her questioningly, wondering how so much food could enter a small body like hers. However, she wasn't that small anymore. Of course, most boys - including her boyfriend, Amir and now Harry - were taller than her, but she was still tall for a girl of her age. Her eyes had remained the same moss green as it was the previous year, and her jet-black hair still fell straight down to the middle of her back, not a lock out of place.

"Welcome back everyone, to another year at Hogwarts." Dumbledore said, standing in front of the staff table "And a pleasant welcome to those joining us. As you may have noticed we have two changes in staff this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we also like to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense the Dark Arts teacher. Also-"

"Hem, hem..." a small girlish voice said, interrupting Dumbledore

"Did she just interrupt Dumbledore?" Amir gasped

"I think she did." Rose replied

"I don't like Dumbledork, but bloody hell woman..." Draco whispered as Umbridge made her way next to Dumbledore

"Thank you, Headmaster." she continued "I am delighted to be here and I'm sure we're all gonna to be good friends."

"That's unlikely." Elizabeth said a little too loud, much to the woman's dismay and students' amusement

"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction."

"She interrupted Dumbledore for this?"

"Shut it, Ferran. I wanna here what the toad has to say." Draco whispered loudly

"The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them for ever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching. Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the wheighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay."

"If she's the image of progress, I'd prefer stagnating and decaying." Liz whispered to Amir, who chuckled

"There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."

"Kill me, now."

No one clapped at the end of her speech, all the students just stared blankly at her, confused. Even Dumbledore had nothing to say after that and simply continued with the message he was about to say when the pink toad interrupted him. Soon enough, the speeches were done and everyone could go to their common rooms. Elizabeth and Draco rose from their seats and stood at the end of their table.

"Ready, prefect Evans?" Draco smirked

"Let's do this shit." Rose chuckled then turned to the crowd of loud students "All right, first years get off your arses and follow us, please!"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

The first years, terrified and curious, rose from their seats and followed the two prefects like herded sheep. On the way to the dungeons, Draco and Elizabeth walked side by side the Gryffindors whose staircase to the Common Room was next to the stairs down to the dungeons. Ella took the opportunity to sneak a few words towards Hermione, Ron and Harry as the first two lead their own first years.

"That toad is gonna be teaching us!?" she whispered loudly

"I know it's horrible." Hermione complained

"What does 'progress for progress' sake' mean?" Ron wondered

"It means the Ministry is interfering with Hogwarts, Ronald!"

"How'd you know that?"

"Because she said it herself." Hermione sighed "Didn't you see the look on Dumbledore's face? No one wants her here. I bet you anything she's a spy for Fudge."

"But they can't do that!"

"Ron, haven't you been paying attention?" Liz groaned "The Ministry's slowly taking over. Forcing Dumbledore out. That's why the Daily Prophet's been calling him an 'old fool'. It's Fudge's doing. It's propaganda."


	74. Detention of the Worst Kind

The Hogwarts castle glittered in the morning light of the warm sun, dew beginning to melt off bright the sage green leaves of the old Whomping Willow. The water of the Black Lake became two shades lighter and the chandeliers lit up in Elizabeth's dormitory. Rachel, Daphne and Milicent were still sleeping as the Evans girl rose and got dressed after exiting the shower. The three other girls only woke up when Liz threw a book at each of their heads before leaving towards the Great Hall. As usual, Amir was already there and waiting for his Rose, sipping on some herbal tea - it was the only thing that could make him less aggressive in the morning. That and the sight of his best friend with an annoyed look on her face.

"Now what is the matter, Rose?" Amir smirked, popping a blueberry into his mouth

"My first class is Defense... with that stupid pink toad." Liz groaned, pouring herself some tea

"I am sure that it will not be that horrible."

"You wanna bet, Ferran?"

"Of course."

"Loser has to get caught after succeeding in setting a bunch of Nifflers loose in the Lion's den."

"Why not the Ravenclaws?" Amir complained

"Because you already set their robes to flash bright pink every time a Slytherin walks by - they need a break." Ella chuckled

Fine. We have an accord."

Amir most definitely wished he hadn't shook Elizabeth's hand at that moment - he would find that out when he had the same class in the afternoon. But for now, Ella quietly made her way towards her Defense Against the Dark Arts class, ignoring the disdainful looks her peers were sending her. Obviously, the events that occurred over the summer were still topic of conversation and yet another reason to talk trash about Harry and his sister. However, Liz kept her head high and docked five points each from two Hufflepuffs who were having a shouting match in the corridor. In the classroom she sat beside Draco, who was talking to Crabbe and Goyle behind him. He stopped when Ellie sat down.

"You're almost late."

"Sorry, had to intervene in a shouting match in the corridor... Something about a lost pair of vintage socks."

"Socks? That's just sad." Draco chuckled

"They were in their last year too. Even more tragic." Liz laughed

"Did they give you any grief about it?"

"No, why?"

"Right when I walked out of the common room I had to give some Ravenclaw detention for throwing a book at me after I told him couldn't lie down in the middle of the hallway. Hit me straight in the jaw, too."

"Ouch. Well, at least you're not scarred; you wouldn't be pretty anymore if you were."

"Look who's talking. You've got more scars than I have galleons." Draco laughed then leaned in close to his girlfriend's ear "But you're still the most precious thing I have."

"You're such a prat, Malfoy." Liz laughed, her cheeks flashing beet red

"I do my best."

Suddenly, the couple's moment was disturbed when a toad in awful pink robes walked into the classroom, annoyingly poised. Once again, she stood at the front and cleared her throat, that same high pitched sound resonating through the now quiet classroom. She smiled at everyone.

"Good morning class."

"Good morning professor." a few Ravenclaws said

"Well that won't do." Umbridge sighed "Let's try that again. Good morning class."

"Good morning professor." the class chorused

"Much better. I've been going over your history and it seems your class has been disrupted and fragmented. With the changing of teachers every year, you are far below the Ministry-standards."

"Who cares?" Ella whispered

"Because as you all know, I'm sure, your O.W.L.'s are this year. They determine your future. I strongly suggest you take them seriously. I'd like you to open your book to page 5: Basics for Beginners. There will be no need for talk."

Umbridge sat down at her desk and began reading a book. Draco sighed and opened his book, surprisingly disappointed that he wasn't going to able to perform proper magic. Rose rolled her eyes at the professor and sighed, in the same mood as her boyfriend who was dejectedly staring at the black and white pages of his textbook. She looked down at them too, noticing there was nothing of importance. Suddenly, and much to everyone's surprise, Elizabeth raised her hand.

"Yes, miss..."

"Evans, but you already know that. Anyway, I have a question for you, professor."

"A query? I think that will be perfectly clear once you read through carefully." Umbridge said

"I don't think so. See, there aren't any defensive spells in this." Liz said, roughly rifling through her book

"Miss Evans, why would you need to learn how to use defensive spell? Are you expecting to be attacked in my classroom?"

"So we're not going to use magic?" a random Ravenclaw said

"Students will raise their hands if they wish to speak!"

The Ravenclaw shrunk back into his seat, a few other students chuckled. The same Ravenclaw rose their hand.

"Yes?"

"Of course I don't expect to get attacked, Dumbledore's here." she said carelessly "But surely the point of 'Defense Against the Dark Arts' is to, as it says in its name, defend ourselves against the dark arts?"

"Well, I'm afraid you are not qualified to decide what the 'point' of any class is. You will be learning defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way-"

"What the hell is the point of that?" Liz said angrily

"Ella calm down." Draco whispered

"Miss Evans! Did I not just say raise your hand if you wish to speak?" the girl raised her hand, mockingly "As I was saying, It's not my place to criticize this way this school is run... yet. But in the past there have been very irresponsible wizards giving you instructions in this class. I assure you that all ends today. As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why any of you should not be able to perform the spells under a controlled examination."

"Without ever practising them? Oh, that's rich woman."

"I repeat: as long as you've studied the theory hard enough-"

"How does that help us in the real world, huh!?" Ella shouted "How does that help us against the things and the darkness that is creeping up on us!?"

"Ella-"

"What did I say about your hand, Miss Evans?" Umbridge said, trying to stay calm "This is school, not the real world. Who are you expecting to jump out of the bushes and attack you?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about fucking Voldemort, huh?"

The entire class shuddered as if Elizabeth had said the foulest curse word on the planet. Umbridge simply stood there calmly, glaring at the fuming girl. Rose stared right back.

"Ten points, Miss Evans. Now let me makes this very clear: You have been told a certain Dark wizard has return from the dead-"

"Been told? That's hilarious, woman. You realize that we fought him right, me and my brother?"

"Detention, Miss Evans!" Umbridge growled "Once again, that is a lie."

"Oh, and I suppose Cedric Diggory just dropped dead 'cause he thought it'd be funny, yeah?"

The entire classroom shuddered again, this time, even Malfoy knew she'd gone too far.

"Come here."

Elizabeth rose, head held high. There was no way that she was going to let Dolores Umbridge win the battle of composure. So far, Ella seemed to be fairly well put-together. No one understood it, but they didn't care. It somewhat terrified them. The young Slytherin walked up to the pink-clad woman and stood in front of her, towering by at least a head.

"Get out of my classroom." the woman said

"With pleasure." Liz said with a smirk

To further annoy the teacher, Ellie took out her wand from her pocket and gathered all her things with a non-verbal spell she'd been practising in her dorm the previous night - something they'd learn during the year - and swung her book bag over her shoulder before proudly walking out of the horrid space, not knowing the worried and scared glance her boyfriend had sent her retreating figure.

Walking down the hallways towards the dungeon, she calmed down, now fully capable of resisting the temptation to disconnect Umbridge's head from the rest of her body. However, she had been spending too much time focusing on her thoughts rather than on where she was walking and failed to noticed Severus Snape coming her way - Liz walked right into him.

"Oh, sorry professor." the girl apologized

"Why aren't you in class?" Snape asked, ignoring the apology as usual

"Got kicked out. Here's the note or whatever."

The Slytherin Head of House read it carefully and sighed.

"My office, please."

"Lead the way."

Snape and Evans both sat at the former's desk, much like the previous year when he had helped her with the events of the Triwizard tournament. Elizabeth would forever be grateful - technically he saved her life; she'd have been dead without that information.

"I'm disappointed, Miss Evans." he said sharply

"I would expect nothing less of you, sir." the girl sighed, slumping in her chair

"I'm disappointed that you didn't use your common sense. You know where this Umbridge woman comes from; misbehaviour in her class could cost you far more than house points and your precious Saturdays."

"Sorry, can't keep my temper in check when some frilly pink toad calls me a liar."

"Miss Evans, do you really think this has anything to do with telling the truth or lies?" Snape continued "You have to keep that eerily calm temper of yours in check..."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry..." Ella said shamefully

"You and I both know the truth. But it's not your place to try and convince the world that You-Know-Who has returned. There are those in the Order who shall do that for you. You must keep your head down and learn to stay silent."

"That's not in my nature, sir."

"I'm aware. But you are going to have to adapt. Did you not listen to the woman's speech yesterday?"

"Yeah, it was disgusting. I mean, poor choices of words everywhe-"

"Miss Evans." Snape warned

"Yeah, right. The Ministry is aiming to take over the school, okay? I heard."

"Very well then. You will serve detention with professor Umbridge - letting you off on this one is not a good idea, I know what you're thinking."

"Could you stop? It's kind of creepy." Ella chuckled, managing a small smile

Snape rolled his eyes and nodded towards the door.

"Miss Evans?"

"Yes, Captain?"

"First, don't ever call me that again." Snape sighed, irritated. His gaze softened "Second, if anything should be amiss, during detention tonight or any other time, trust that you can always confide in me."

"Trust me, if Umbridge makes me shovel Hippogriff dung, you'll be the first to know."

* * *

Humour had always been a defense mechanism when it came to Ella's vulnerabilities. When something was bothering her, she'd play it off with humour or anger if someone pushed too hard. But not being able to use those two things to shield herself was a new concept to her, a concept she didn't want to discover in front of her boyfriend. He'd taken her into an empty classroom just as she came off the stairs from the Dungeons, and now, just like in their second year, he was pacing back and forth in front of her, nervous beyond comprehension.

"What were you thinking talking back to a teacher like that?"

"I wasn't really. The words just came out, all right? I've only said sorry about a million time already. But there's nothing I can do about now."

"You could always not go." Draco suggested

"And get a full weekend of detention with that thing? No thanks."

"She wasn't that bad."

"Not bad? Are you kidding me? She's an idiot!" Ella said loudly "It amazes me how people can be dumb sometimes."

"You wouldn't be talking about me, would you?"

"What of course not. Why would I would I call you and idiot? That's just mean, something I don't to be ever again because Umbridge is-"

Draco's lips touched Elizabeth's. Not innocently, like a tease or a shy first attempt, but fiery and demanding. Ella wanted to pull away to continue rambling aimlessly, letting out all of her anger, but she couldn't. The boy's hands had firmly grasped her wrists and pressed them to the wall behind her, trapping the girl. It was him who pulled away, smirk on his soft pink lips. Liz couldn't think straight, but she at least obeyed when he told her to shut up and quit worrying. Her heart fluttered at his voice, hands prying themselves away from his to be place around his neck. A quick peck to the lips and a teasing smile is all the young witch gave him, before she left for her detention, leaving a breathless Draco behind, a smile on his face.

When Elizabeth got to her new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, she wasn't expecting to see her brother sitting in front of Umbridge as well. No doubt he too had lost his temper in his class this afternoon - that was one thing the two of them shared. She also wasn't expecting for the entire room to be that same sickly pink colour as all of her clothing, for her walls to lined with decorative plates and images of kittens everywhere, as well as doilies by the million. It was enough to make Elizabeth want to vomit right in the bowl of hard candies her professor was eating from and forget the moment she'd just spent with her boyfriend.

"Sit down." Umbridge said sweetly

Ella obeyed and quietly walked over to Harry and the horrible woman. She told the two that they'd be writing lines and that she'd provided them with ink-less quills for the occasion, therefore they'd never run out if it. However, as Elizabeth and Harry began to write "I must not tell lies", a sharp searing pain spread across their hands. Turning to look, both saw the same words cut into their skin as if by a scalpel, blood disappearing back into the skin as it healed up and left behind a red mark. Both students glared at the woman, who didn't seem to be paying attention, and continued, defiantly, to write their lines until the healing stopped altogether...


	75. Inspection

Harry didn't hesitate in dragging his sister to the Gryffindor Common Room with him when Umbridge decided they'd written enough lines for the message to "sink in". Luckily for the two siblings, Ella was a prefect and had the excuse of escorting Mr. Potter back to his dormitory when a teacher walked by or Peeves began yelling for them.

Blood dripping from her hand and onto the floor, Elizabeth quietly went up the stairs to the girls' dormitory and into Hermione's to gently wake her, careful not to disturb the others that were deep in slumber. Still groggy, the Gryffindor witch followed her sister - and the blood trail - to the Common Room where she found Harry to be in the same condition as her 'sister, "I must not tell lies" shining scarlet in the firelight. The only good thing that came out of this predicament, for Elizabeth, was that she had better handwriting than her brother meaning her scar would look nicer than Harry's had he the ability to keep scars like her. Hermione immediately ran to one of the lavatories and came back with about a dozen cloths, a bowl of ice cold water and another filled with a healing solution that Ella recognised by smell and colour. Hermione threw a cloth at her assuming her 'sister' knew what to do, and dunked another piece of fabric into the freezing water to clean Harry's wound. Ellie did the same and began wiping off the blood, wincing.

"Thanks, Hermione." Harry said quietly, looking gratefully at his friend

"That wicked woman!" she replied angrily "You should go straight to McGonagall with this, Harry. Liz, you should definitely go to Snape, he even asked you to come see him if anything went wrong."

"That would be signing my own death warrant, Mione." Ella said, dropping her hand into the healing solution "And no, I'm definitely not going to see that Dumbledork either, he-"

Suddenly, Elizabeth cut herself off when she saw Ronald walking down the stairs, broom in hand, ready to strike down the "intruders" that had woken him up a few moments ago. He lowered it when he saw Harry, Hermione and Elizabeth staring back at him.

"Where were you at supper?" Hermione asked impatiently

"No where." Ron replied evasively

"What are you doing with a broom?" Elizabeth pestered

"Oh, uh, it's mine... Mum got it for me for making prefect."

"Ron, did you try out for the team? Harry asked

The ginger looked scared to answer.

"Maybe."

"Well, how'd you do?"

"Well, I think I did rather good actually." Ron said, seemingly surprised at Harry's positive attitude

"You trying for the Keeper position?"

"Yeah, what d'you guys think?"

"Brilliant! I get a new Gryffindork to crush." Elizabeth chuckled

"Fat chance of that, Liz." Harry said

"Really? I mean, you're not mad?" Ron asked Harry

"Mad? No, it'd be great if we were both on the team." the young Potter replied

"Good. I thought you'd be angry."

"Why would I be angry?"

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then at the siblings.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way Harry, but ever since we got back you've been acting like a sourpuss... You too Lizzie." Hermione said

"Excuse me, I think I've been very happy." Liz said offended, at the same time Harry said "No I haven't!"

"See? Every time you get mad, you bite our heads off. Remember, we're on your side."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm gonna go back to the Dungeons; even prefects can't stay up this late."

"Hey Liz, why'd you write 'I must not tell lies' on your hand." Ron asked, then looked at Harry "And why'd you do it too?"

* * *

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up with the back of her hand in a bowl of ice cold water to try and get the swelling down. Thankfully, it had gone down and her hand was no longer red from blood and irritation. However, as suspected, the words 'I must not tell lies' were still obvious on the back of her left hand. She momentarily wondered how she'd hide it, but thought against it; there was no use. Instead, she applied some makeup on it to at least hide it a little, then went up to the Great Hall where she was bombarded by Montague, a Chaser on the Slytherin Quidditch team, before she even sat down.

"Evans, why weren't you at practise yesterday afternoon?" Montague growled

"Had detention with Umbridge."

"Detention? Damn, Evans it's the first week."

"Sue me." Liz sighed, trying to get away from her Captain

"Hey, hey, you're not going anywhere." he said, grabbing her arm "I'm the new Captain and we've got two new beaters. There's no way I can practise when I'm one Chaser down."

"I'll be there next time."

"Oi, get off her Montague!" Harry said, jogging Ella's way

"You better be there, or your off the team miss prefect." Montague glared before stalking off

"You all right?"

"Yeah, I'll live. Can't say the same for you, though." Elizabeth sighed

"What're you talki-"

"Scar feeling okay, Potter?" Malfoy said, standing beside his girlfriend "It's been a week since you've been to the hospital wing, it's a new record."

"Draco, let it go."

"Hey, how's your scar by the way?" the blond said in a gentle tone

"Piss off, Malfoy. Leave my sister alone." Harry replied

"I don't like your tone, Potter. I just might have to give you another detention."

"You can't do that."

"Actually, he can." Liz admitted, indifferent to the outcome of this shouting match

"But he's not the only Prefect here, so beat it, Malfoy." Ron said, coming up to the three others with Hermione

"Ah, Weasley, now I don't like your tone. So that'll be... fifty points from you, fifty from Potter and fifty from Granger just for being here." Draco said, a cocky smile on his face. Liz rolled her eyes

"Funny, Malfoy. Prefects can't take away more than five points." Hermione said proudly

"Don't you mean Gryffindor prefects can't take away more?"

"What?"

All five of them looked towards the four hourglasses that were hung on the wall in the Great Hall. The first was filled with sapphires for Ravenclaw, the second with yellow topaz for Hufflepuff, the third with rubies for Gryffindor and emeralds for the Slytherins. To everyone's surprise, save Draco's, one hundred and fifty points fell from the red hourglass: it had actually worked.

"You can't do that!" Ron argued

"How did you-"

"It pays when your father is close with the Ministry of Magic." Draco said smugly

"Does that mean I can take more points away too?" Ella questioned. The boy nodded yes "Then I take fifty points away from you for abusing your power in front of me."

"What!?"

"By all means take away hundreds of points when I'm not there though."

"Liz!" Hermione protested

"Hey, I'm a Slytherin." Ella said slyly "I'll use any means to achieve my ends; my ends being the House Cup. Nothing personal really."

"You never cease to surprise me, Ella." Draco chuckled, then began pulling her away "See you, freaks."

"Hey, Malfoy!" Harry began "Tell your daddy to say 'hi' to Voldemort from me."

Instead of getting offended like everyone expected, Malfoy simply turned around and smiled, before walking away with his girlfriend. Of course, this didn't mean much to Harry, Hermione and Ron, but Liz knew that Draco would never act a certain way for no reason. Did this mean that Draco knew about his father being a Death Eater? Was You-Know-Who trying to recruit her boyfriend? If so, had he accepted? No. He would never, Elizabeth thought. Sure he was a self-centered bigot at times, but never in a million years would Draco Malfoy accept to being a Death Eater... or would he?

A few weeks later, Elizabeth had managed to make more students mad just by taking house points away than by "pretending to have seen You-Know-Who". The number of duels, quarrels and the Weasley twins' pranks had sky-rocketed or maybe since she was a prefect, Liz just noticed more. Once, while in between classes, two fifth year Gryffindors were dueling in the courtyard over something Ella did not much care about, and docked five points each. Of course, a Slytherin prefect taking points away from Gryffindor wasn't well-regarded and they laughed at the measly amount that had been taken away. The Slytherin took away another fifteen each. They stopped dueling and laughing.

Passing by a bulletin board on her way to her potions class with Hermione - she said she'd forgiven Liz for the earlier quarrel since she'd docked fifty points from Draco - they both noticed something new posted. Not too long after, Ron and Harry arrived next to them, thank Elizabeth for taking points from Malfoy. All four of them looked shocked at what Hermione was reading off the board:

"'The Ministry of Magic seeks education reform... Dolores Umbridge named first ever High-Inquisitor'."

"What does that mean?" Ron asked. Hermione kept reading

"'Education Decree twenty-three, which gives the High Inquisitor power to inspect her fellow teachers and appoint new powers to students as she sees fit'."

"Hermione, what does that mean?"

"This is an outrage!" the girl growled

"What does it-"

"It means the pink toad is going to conduct inspections of the classes, Ronald." Ella butted in "It means she'd looking for teachers to sack."

"Oh."

"I didn't think it'd happen this fast." Hemione gasped "Oh, I can't wait to see her inspect McGonagall, then that toad gets it."

"Forget McGonagall. I wanna see what she and Snape do to each other." Harry laughed

"Umbridge doesn't stand a chance." Ella chuckled

"For once I agree." Ron said

The four friends, laughing, walked down to the familiar dungeons and took their seats in the potions classroom. Elizabeth opted to sit with the "Golden Trio" rather than her boyfriend, since they were already in an avid conversation about Umbridge and her ludicrous methods of teaching and her horrid pink outfits. Draco didn't take well to that, but Liz was too busy talking to notice.

"This is why Fudge sent her, she's going to weave out Dumbledore's supporters." Hermione said, turning around to face the two boys. Elizabeth did the same

"But she won't be able to sack anyone. I mean our teachers are though enough as it is-"

"I think she'd going to try and take them out anyway." the Slytherin interrupted "She'd probably just trying to find out who's loyal and who's not."

Suddenly, the doors burst open and everyone sits properly in their seats, wands, cauldrons and books already out. Professor Snape lurked into the classroom, calmly walking to the front and facing his students. With a flick of his wand, dozens of parchments unrolled in front of each student. They were graded.

"As you can see, I have awarded grades on the last test to the standards of the O.W.L.'s." Snape said "This should give you a realistic idea what to expect on your finals this year."

Elizabeth picked up her parchment which had a large 'O' on it. She smiled widely - this meant that she could pass her O.W.L.'s and move on to N.E.W.T. level potions class. Hermione looked over her shoulder and frowned. Liz noticed an 'E' on her moonstone exam.

"Needless to say, most of you would of failed had this been the real O.W.L. - I expect better of my students and I will see a great deal more effort. Or I'm going to start handing out detention to those who get 'D's." the professor continued giving Harry a pointed look "You will notice... that we have a guest with us today."

He gestured towards the dim corner of the dungeon and all heads turned to see Professor Umbridge sitting there, clipboard on her knee. Elizabeth glanced sideways at Hermione and rolled her eyes. She then thought of how this was going to happen; of course Ella wanted Professor Snape to triumph over Umbridge, but she'd heard of what happened with Trelawney from the boys... it wasn't pretty.

"We are continuing our Strengthening Solution today. You will find your mixtures as you left them last lesson; if correctly made they should have matured well over the weekend. Instructions," Snape waved his wand again "are on the board. Carry on."

Professor Umbridge spent the first half-hour of the lesson making notes in the corner, while Elizabeth made adjustments to the instructions that Hermione didn't understand, and while Harry became so distracted by waiting for Umbridge to speak he nearly put pomegranate juice in his potion instead of salamander blood. Just when Hermione prevented him from putting the juice in, Umbridge rose from her seat and made her way towards Snape who was bending over Dean Thomas' cauldron.

"Well, the class seems fairly advanced for their level." she said briskly to Snape's back "Though I would question whether it is advisable to teach them a potion like the Strengthening Solution. I think the Ministry would prefer if that were removed from the curriculum."

Professor Snape straightened up slowly and turned to look at her.

"Here we go." Harry told Ron

"Five points, mister Potter." Snape said casually

Harry rolled his eyes. The corner of Umbridge's mouth twitched upwards.

"Now, how long have you been teaching at Hogwarts?" Umbridge asked, quill poised over her clipboard

"Fourteen years." Snape replied, his expression was unfathomable

Keeping her eye on her Head of House, Elizabeth added three drops of salamander blood to her potion; it hissed and turned orange. She added another one, then scribbled it in her textbook. Hermione looked oddly at it.

"You applied first for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post, I believe?"

"Yes."

"But you were unsuccessful?" Umbridge insisted. Snape's lip curled

"Obviously." he replied in his usual contained and quiet voice

Professor Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard and a few students laughed. Snape glared at them and they stopped immediately.

"And you applied regularly for the Defense Against the Dark Arts post since you first joined the school, I believe?"

"Yes." Snape said quietly, barely moving his lips. He looked particularly angry

"Do you have any idea why Dumbledore has consistently refused to appoint you?" Umbridge asked

"This is bullshit." Elizabeth whispered loudly

"Miss Evans." the potions master warned, but didn't remove any points much to the toad's disapproval. He turned back to her "I suggest you ask him."

"Oh, I shall."

"I suppose this is relevant?" Snape asked, his black eyes narrowed

"Oh yes. Yes, the Ministry wants a thorough understanding of the teachers', uh, backgrounds."

The woman turned away and walked over to Pansy Parkinson and began interrogating her about the classes. Snape looked around at his classroom. Elizabeth immediately went back to brewing her potion, but the burnt rubber-smell of Harry's potion was highly nauseating and distracting.

"No marks again, then, Potter." Snape said maliciously, emptying Harry's cauldron with a wave of wand, much to Ella's relief "You will write me an essay on the correct composition of this potion, indicating how and why you went wrong, to be handed in next lesson. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor." Harry replied, fuming

The Slytherin professor then walked towards Liz, who was finishing up her own potion. It seemed to be the correct shade of turquoise and it had the correct odor. Snape examined it.

"Top marks, Miss Evans, as usual. You are relieved of homework and may exit when you've cleaned up your station."

"Thank you professor."

Elizabeth cleaned her station while most of the students glared at her for finishing in advance as usual. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to those glares, but it didn't mean that she liked them. However, these glares weren't only the result of her finishing early. They were the result of her beliefs in Voldemort's return, glares about her being a prefect. But the two most intense glares came from her boyfriend, whom she'd unknowingly been ignoring the whole classroom, and Umbridge, who didn't like that she was treated better than all the other students.


	76. A Secret Meeting

Umbridge hadn't stopped there. Within a week, she'd managed to produce five more "Educational Decrees" and framed them and hung them on the wall of the Entrance Hall to the castle. Elizabeth and Amir had seen her inspect Bathsheda Babbling in their Ancient Runes class - she seemed to have been quite pleased - and their History of Magic professor, Cuthbert Binns - he almost fell asleep while talking to her, Merlin knows how he'd survive this. Dumbledore seemed to be less and less present at the school and Umbridge seemed to be gaining influence upon the once unattainable school of witchcraft and wizardry. No one was happy with this, save maybe Draco and his cronies, but he had to keep up appearances for his father - that's what Ella was telling herself anyway.

It was now Wednesday, and Amir was headed to Transfiguration class with his best friend, the one and only Elizabeth Evans. No one knew when Umbridge was going to inspect professor McGonagall, but she knew that it wouldn't be pretty. Minerva McGonagall had a fierce attitude and left no room for nonsense, much like Snape. However, she seemed much less deadly than him. The two friends made their way to the classroom and sat near Harry, Hermione and Ron, who were anxiously staring at something in the corner. Amir's olive green eyes caught the same thing and he chuckled, nudging Liz to look in that direction. Umbridge was standing at the back of the classroom, being ignored by the Transfiguration professor as she stood in front of her classroom, looking over her students. The ignored the woman in pink when she made the usual silly couching sound she used to make herself heard.

"Now, as you prepare for your O.W.L.s you'll be forced to begin to consider what profession you'll be heading for your future." Professor McGonagall began "Throughout the year you will be taking practice test to prepare you for the real thing."

"Hem, hem." Umbridge tried to interrupt, but was ignored

"Today, we're advancing from vanishing snails, to mice. Now the Vanishing Spell-"

"Hem, hem."

"Yes?"

"Well, Professor, I was just wondering if you had received my note about the inspection today."

"Well, obviously, or I'd be asking you exactly what you're doing standing in my classroom." McGonagall quipped

Amir and Liz smiled at each other, and the Transfiguration teacher returned to her class.

"Now, as I was saying, the Vanishing Spell grows in complexity with each different animal. As you begin-"

"Hem, hem."

"-on your mice, you will see that vanishing them will require much more concentration than with-"

"Hem, hem."

"May I offer you a cough drop?" McGonagall said irritated

"Oh, no." Umbridge replied sweetly

"Well, I wonder how you expect to gain an idea of my normal teaching standards if you continue to interrupt me with your sudden asthmatic attacks?"

Umbridge immediately bent over her clipboard and furiously scribbled something down with her quill, then glared at McGonagall.

"Expect the result of your inspecting withing the next ten days." she said sharply

"I don't know how I'll be able to contain my anticipation." McGonagall replied, voice dripping with sarcasm

Umbridge turned and left in a rush, grumbling. McGonagall took a moment to try and return to her normal teaching state, nostrils flaring in impatience and irritation. Amir suddenly raised his hand.

"Yes, Ferran?"

"You could turn her into a worm." he said

The class couldn't help but laugh. Normally McGonagall wouldn't stand for something like this, but she shook her head lightly trying to hide a smile.

"We could all go fishing in the Black Lake."

"That'll be enough, Ferran."

"You're a twit, Ramses." Rose whispered with a smile

"I do try."

* * *

Elizabeth had two classes of Defense Against the Dark Arts the following week, and they'd spent the last two reading the first chapter of their textbooks without exchanging words and explanation from the teacher, not that they wanted her to speak anyway. Ella sat next to Draco, in front of Crabbe and Goyle as usual, and immediately started glaring at her book.

"Don't start again, Ella." the blond warned

"I do what I want, Draco." the girl growled

"Just don't get into trouble again."

"No promises."

With a loud sigh from Malfoy, Elizabeth continued glaring at her professor who just entered the room, clipboard in hand. As predicted, she told the class to open up their books to the second chapter and to begin reading in complete silence. Rose however, had other ideas - she and Hermione had planned this together. She raised her hand.

"What is it, Miss Evans?" Umbridge sighed

"I've already read chapter two." Liz said simply

"Then proceed to chapter three."

"I've read that chapter too. Actually, I've read the whole book."

Draco rolled his eyes and sighed again, awaiting the inevitable.

"Well then, you'll be able to tell me what Skinkhard said about says about counter-jinxes in chapter seven, won't you?" Umbridge asked while crossing her arms, awaiting an answer she expects will never come

"He says that counter-jinxes are often improperly named because the witches or wizards who discover them do so by accident during an attack; so 'counter-jinx' is just a means where people give their jinx to sound more acceptable in the general public." Elizabeth said with a smirk, making Crabbe and Goyle high-five each other "But I think he's wrong. Giving your jinx, that you've created, a name you've chosen puts ownership on it. When you chose to-"

"That's enough! Five points from Slytherin." Umbridge interrupted

"For what? Voicing my opinion?"

"Ella, don't..." Draco warned

"For interrupting my class with pointless interruptions. I will not have my class lectured by a lying bookworm know-it-all."

"Do not call me a know-it-all!" Elizabeth said furious, raising from her seat

"Sit down, Miss Evans." Umbridge asked sternly "Your previous teachers may have allowed you to act like a fool in front of the class, but I will not. With the exception of Professor Quirrell, you haven't had a decent teacher since you've begun your schooling."

"Yeah, Quirrell was great. He just had that one drawback of having Voldemort sticking out the back his God damned head!"

Every student in the classroom froze again, just as they did the last time Elizabeth mentioned He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named, both amazed and terrified at the girl's nerve. At that moment, Umbridge's eyes could spit fire, but Ellie stared right back at her, not flinching one bit.

As expected, detention with Umbridge - and Harry, apparently - was on the menu for the next day. Thankfully this time it didn't interfere with her Quidditch practise, and Montague didn't need to yell at her again. However, it lead to more hand bleeding and the deepening of her scar. This time it would be harder to conceal, especially now that Fred and George were now aware of it - you never knew how long they'd keep it a secret, but Elizabeth trusted them with her life.

"Wicked, Ellie." George said "So it cuts open every time you write?"

"Unfortunately." Liz replied

"Brilliant." Fred commented

"It's not brilliant, it's barbaric!" Hermione argued

"I was speaking strictly from a disciplinary point of view."

"She's an awful woman. We have to do something about it."

"Like what? Dumbledore can't get rid of her, so who can?" Ron asked dejectedly

"I wasn't talking about getting rid of her."

"Oh, I was going to suggest poison, but if you've got a better idea, I'm all ears." Ellie laughed, sticking her hand in the same healing solution as before

"She's purposely not teaching us anything. So, I think its time we do it ourselves." Hermione stated

"What?" Harry said, confused

"You are mental." Ron said exasperated "You want us to do more work? We already can't sleep at night with all the essays Snape's making us do."

"They're not that bad." Ella defended

"It's more important than homework, silly." Hermione rolled her eyes

"More important that homework? What's wrong with you?" Fred and George gasped

"Listen, we can't do much ourselves - we need have to be taught, we need a teacher."

"A teacher?" Harry and Liz said simultaneously "Who?"

"Wake up, you two! You, obviously!"

"What?"

"Yeah, that's brilliant! You teach us!" Ron smiled

"You've officially both lost it." Elizabeth said "I can't teach Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"No, no, no, Hermione's right! I mean look at what you two have done!"

"We haven't done anything." Harry replied

"Haven't done anything, Harry?" Hermione said, bewildered "In your first year you saved the Stone from You-Know-Who! Second year, Harry, you killed a basilisk and stopped Riddle, and Liz you helped me figure out that the monster was a Basilisk. Third year you both fought off a hundred Dementors! And lastly, you survived your fourth attack from You-Know-Who and two dozen Death Eaters!"

"They're right, Harry. Plus, I mean, you're the youngest Triwizard tournament contestants and winners, ever." Fred added with a smile, earning an approving nod from his the others

"But that was luck."

"Maybe for you, but I worked my arse off to live."

"Liz is right. There's got to be something in you, I mean no one's that lucky." Ron added

"You can do it. I know you can." Hermione insisted "You two are the best Defense Against the Dark Arts students since You-Know-Who was here."

"Stop it, all of it you!" Harry said loudly "That was all luck, Liz for one. I was was guessing half the time, the other half I was scared out of my mind which I'm sure you were too." the boy pointed towards his sister "Ron, Hermione, you don't know what it's like. You have no idea how it's like to face him. It's not like Cedric was stupid and we were smart, that could have just easily been us had Voldemort not have something planned for us."

"We're not saying anything like that." Hermione said quietly

"Look, Harry, we could teach basically on experience alone." Ella admitted, seriously considering her 'sister's' suggestion "Just... think about it? 'Cause I'm in."

Hermione, Ron, Fred and George all beamed at Elizabeth's statement. There was no way the Slytherin was going to let Umbridge not teach them Defense Against the Dark Arts when she could prepare them for what was out there. Of course, she was hesitant about - most likely - having to lie to her boyfriend and every single teacher, but it was worth it. For Harry however, it would take more convincing to sway his opinion and even then he'd be reluctant.

"Harry, we're definitely going not going to learn anything with that hag 'teaching' us." Hermione said, sitting down at a table at the Hog's Head "You two are our only hope."

"I dunno, Hermione." Harry sighed

"Harry, even Viktor said you could do things he's never seen." Hermione said "And he's three grades ahead of you and was taught by a Death Eater."

"Wait. Viktor Krum?" Ron asked

"How many Viktors do we know?" Liz said snidely

"You're still in contact with him?"

"So what if I am." Hermione said casually

"What do you two talk about?"

"That's none of your concern, now is it? I can have a pen pal."

"I doubt he's trying to be your pen pal."

Hermione rolled her eyes and turned back to Harry.

"Hermione, who are we to teach-"

"Harry, you're Harry Potter! I'm Elizabeth Evans, for Merlin's sake! You're in every Dark Arts book written in the past fifteen years, and I'm being added into the newer editions. You can't pretend like we're not good, that you're not good at it. Call it luck, but the fact is you were surrounded by two dozen Death Eaters and You-Know-Who Himself and you dueled him and survived. No one's ever done that and that was our fourth time."

"It's kinda becoming a bad habit, honestly." Ron chuckled

"Okay, fine, but I'm only teaching you two." Harry finally gave in

"Uh, well, that might be... a bit of a problem." Hermione stammered

"What, why?" Liz said, confused. Was she not just teaching Ron, Hermione and the Weasley twins?

"Well... I told a few others, just Ginny. And well, some others might have overheard and they were interested too. I mean, everyone should have the right to learn, right?"

"How many?" Harry growled

"Now, don't get mad you two, but-"

"Hermione, what did you do?" Ella glared

Just then, the door bell rang signaling that someone was entering. Soon, dozens of people were sitting around the longest table in the Hog's Head: Neville, Dean, Lavender, Parvati and Padma Patil, Luna Lovegood, Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Ernie Macmillan, Michael Corner, Colin Creevy and his camera, Fred and George, Lee Jordan, Cho Chang and even Amir was there. There were also about a dozen more people who were there that Elizabeth and Harry didn't even recognize.

"I will never forgive you for this." Harry whispered to Hermione

"Don't be a drama queen, Harry." Liz replied

"Well, thank you all for coming." Hermione began "I think we all know why we're here. We think it's a good idea if we, on our own, study Defense Against the Dark Arts. I mean, to defend ourselves properly."

"Doing this because you don't wanna fail your O.W.L.?" Michael Corner said snidely

"No, because I want to be prepared for... for Voldemort."

Everyone paused.

"What proof do you have that You-Know-Who is back?" Lee Jordan asked, sceptic

"Dumbledore believes it." Hermione countered

"Dumbledore believes them!" Corner added

"Look, Dumbledore told you what happened last year. If you don't believe it I suggest you get the fuck out of here." Elizabeth growled dangerously low

No one moved a muscle.

"Is it true you can produce a corporeal Patronus?" Susan Bones said, curious

"Yeah, and so can Elizabeth."

"My aunt told me that there are only a few wizards that can manage to do that." Cho Chang said, impressed

"Look, we're not trying to impress you." Liz began "We're just offering to teach you to the best of our capabilities. If you want to learn, you're welcome to join us."

"You two will be teaching us?" Neville questioned. The siblings nodded

"I will join you." Amir said after a short pause, placing a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder

"Me too." Neville and Cho Chang said simultaneously

"If you two are teaching, I'm in." Michael Corner added

"So am I." Fred said

"I was in before you even started talking." George added

"It's official then; we're all signing!"


	77. Dumbledore's Army

Hermione and Elizabeth had come up with all the rest. The scroll of parchment that everyone had signed their names on was jinx was now laid down a table of a darkened corner of the Gryffindor Common Room, the firelight giving it a orange glow. Being the best at jinxes and curses, Elizabeth placed a jinx on it that would reveal if anyone had betrayed the other students. No one other than Elizabeth knew what it was - she kept it a secret. At the top of said roll of parchment, written in Hermione's cursive, was 'Dumbledore's Army' - they'd call it 'D.A.' for short. The four students, proud of themselves, disbanded, allowing Liz to get back to the dungeons before curfew and for Harry to get enough sleep for his Quidditch practise, unless he got himself detention with Umbridge again.

The next day, Elizabeth met Amir along the way back to the dungeons after Charms class, who began speaking to her in a hushed voice about the D.A. Hermione and Liz still had to figure out where and when the group was going to meet, and how they were going to contact each other in case of emergency or to plan future sessions. Both girls were charged with research about spells that could help them spark an idea. Upon entering the Slytherin Common Room together, Ella and Amir were instantly being observed by Draco Malfoy, who was nearly disgusted at the sight of his girlfriend with the Egyptian - it was the first time he'd felt this way about girl. If asked about it, he'd refuse to admit it was jealousy, even if that's what it clearly was. The two best friends sat down on nearby chairs, slightly placed aside from the others, ringing more of the blond's imaginary alarms.

"Rose, I do not know if you saw it, but Umbridge has posted yet another 'Educational Decree'." Amir said in a hushed voice

"What! When?" Ella whispered loudly

"While you were in Charms."

"Well, what did it say?"

"All societies, groups or clubs that were not approved by the High Inquisitor are to be banned." the Egyptian sighed "Someone must have told her about us."

"Impossible. I hexed the parchment and we all signed - I'd know if someone betrayed us."

"What do we do?"

"We need to talk to Hermione. Do you have a class soon?" Rose asked, rising from her seat. Amir shook his head "Good. Come on."

Ellie grabbed her best friend by the wrist and dragged him out of the Common Room in a hurry, amplifying Draco Malfoy's concern. Why was his girlfriend spending so much time with him? Sure they were best friends, but not even best friends drag each other around and speak in whispers all the time... Was something going on between them? No. There couldn't be. No one in their right mind did that to a Malfoy. But Elizabeth was an exception, which was why she'd intrigued him right from the start, despite him thinking she was a Mudblood. She was different from all the other girls. Liz never wanted to be his friend, never wanted to have his undivided attention, never even remotely became one if his fangirls and challenged him almost every chance she got. That's what put Draco back in his place... a challenge.

Meanwhile, Amir and Ella ran through the corridors nearly bumping into Professor Snape on their way towards the Gryffindor Common Room. Lucky for them Ella didn't have to remember what the password was because they met Hermione, Ron and Harry in front of the wall where all the 'Educational Decrees' were posted. None of them looked the least bit pleased.

"How does she know!?" Hermione gasped, reading the decree

"Someone ratted us out!" Ron shouted

"Not even remotely possible, Ronald. I hexed that parchment and trust me when I say you'd know if someone ever betrayed us." the Slytherin witch said, defending her spellwork

"How will we proceed?" Amir said, finally free of the questioning glances every Gryffindor gave an untrustworthy Slytherin now that he was part of the rebellion against Umbridge

"We do it anyway." Harry insisted, staring at the decree as if it were Umbridge herself

"Okay, but we'll need a place where no one can find us." Ron sighed "That's not gonna be easy."

"And it needs to be wide open so that we can shoot spells with risking breaking anything important." Hermione added

"Any bright ideas?" Liz chuckled

* * *

No answers came until the next morning when Harry came running towards Elizabeth as she and Draco were walking to the Slytherin table for lunch after their potions class. Grabbing her hand as she grabbed Amir's the previous day, Harry dragged his sister away from her secret boyfriend, much to his displeasure

"What do you think you're doing, Potter!?" Draco protested

"I'm borrowing my damn sister, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, dragging me away

"I'm in the middle of a conversation Harry, can't it wait?" Rose said, wringing herself out of her brother's grip

"No, it can't."

"Why not?" Malfoy interrupted

"None of your business, Malfoy." Harry argued. He looked back to his sister "It's about the extra homework we're helping Ron with."

"Oh, shit." Liz said, realising what the Gryffindor was talking about "Yeah, Draco, I've got to go. Ron's flunking practically everything of course and I forgot that I offered to help."

"Not surprising, he is a Weasley after all." Draco contemplated, earning a glare from the girl's brother "Just make sure you're back for Defense Against the Dark Arts; wouldn't want Umbridge to have any more reason to send you to detention."

"Draco, she sees my face and she wants to send me to detention." Rose joked

"Point taken. Still, I'll kick your arse if you're late or don't show up at all."

"Yes, dad."

Ella winked in her boyfriend's direction, something she did when she couldn't kiss him because they were in public. Draco sent a cheeky smile back and he walked away, secretly keeping an eye on his girl from afar. Harry, unphased by the wink he barely noticed, lead his sister to the Gryffindor table. The Slytherin sat between Fred and George, who immediately greeted her with the usual 'Slytherin Princess' banter.

"So what's so important you had to drag me away from Draco?" Liz asked, piling mashed potatoes onto her plate

"Poor little Ellie, had to dragged away from her little boyfriend." the twins chuckled

"He is not my boyfriend, you twits."

"Why so defensive?"

"Because I don't have a boyfriend and I'd like to keep it that way, thank you very much."

"Whatever, you three can keep negotiating my sister's relationship status later. But right now, I've got to tell you something." Harry sighed

"Well spit it out, mate." Ron said

"Dobby visited last night."

"He did? How is he?" Hermione asked

"He's fine, Hermione. But that's not the point. The point is that he told me where we could have the D.A. meetings."

"Where!?"

* * *

We need somewhere to fight... Some place to practise... Somewhere they can't find us, Elizabeth thought pacing in front of a bare wall at the end of the seventh floor corridor. Suddenly, after passing in front of it three times, furiously thinking for something for the D.A., a large highly polished door magically appeared before Harry, Hermione, Ron, Amir and Elizabeth. The Egyptian grasped the large brass handles and pulled, silently pulling open the oak doors that lead into a spacious room lit with the same torches that lined the walls of the Dungeons eight floors below. The walls were lined with ceiling-high bookshelves filled with every different kind of book imaginable, especially ones filled with counter-jinxes and hexes. Some other bookshelves contained so many different items like Sneakoscopes and Secrecy Sensors, and there was one wall covered in a large cracked Foe-Glass Harry was sure was in fake-Moody's office the previous year.

"These'll be great when we're practising stunning spells." Ron said gently kicking one of the cushions lying around the room

"And would you look at all these books!" Liz smiled, practically running over to the bookshelves "A Compendium of Common Curses and Their Counter-Actions... The Dark Arts Outsmarted... Self-Defensive Spellwork... I don't even have any of these tomes!"

"But you have bought everything at Flourish and Blotts." Amir said surprised

"My guess is that you could find these in the restricted section of the library." Hermione said, taking out Jinxes for the Jinxed from the shelf and sitting down on one of the cushions to read

"I don't think you could've imagined a better place for the D.A. Liz." Harry smiled, giving his sister a side hug

"Me either. My imagination is surprisingly wonderful."

Soon, Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati and Dean had arrived to the room and were immediately wowed by the grandeur of the Room of Requirement. Harry and Ella had to explain to them what the place was, and had to start over again a few times as more people entered for the first meeting Hermione and the latter had planned that day. When everyone had arrived, nearly every cushion had someone seated on it, every single person listening attentively to Harry and Ellie.

"Well..." Harry began nervously "This is the place we've found for practise sessions, and you've, uh, obviously found it okay."

"It's fantastic!" Cho Chang said, and several people murmured in agreement

"It's bizzare." Fred commented, frowning around at it "We once hid in here from Flich once, right George. Of course, it was just a broom cupboard back then."

"Hey, what's this stuff?" Dean asked from the rear corner of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass

"Dark detectors." Liz said simply, stepping between the cushions to reach him "Basically they all indicate the presence of Dark Wizards in the area. But I wouldn't rely on them much if I were you; they can be easily fooled."

The girl's gaze lingered on the Foe-Glass, eyes glazing over the shadowy figures behind her; no one was recognizable. She turned her back on it and faced "her" students.

"Harry and I have been thinking about things to start off with- yes, Hermione?" Liz said, nodding towards her 'sister's' raised hand

"I think we ought to elect a leader... or leaders." she smiled at Harry and Elizabeth

"ELLIE!" Fred and George chorused

"I think it should be Harry." Cho argued, giving the boy a look his sister didn't quite enjoy

"Or both of them." Ron said

"Which is why I suggest we vote properly." Hermione advised "All those in favour of having both Harry and Liz as our leaders, therefore teachers?"

Everyone raised their hands, even Zacharias Smith most begrudginly.

"Good. Then Harry and Elizabeth are the Heads of Dumbledore's Army."

"Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Ginny commented

"Yeah, it does." Nevilled smiled

"Right, shall we get to practising then?" Harry proposed "Liz and I were thinking that we should begin with mastering Expelliarmus, you know, the disarming charm. It's pretty basic, but we've found it very useful-"

"Oh, please." Zacharias sighed, rolling his eyes and folding his arms "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who."

"I've used it against him, saved my life in June..."

The Hufflepuff's mouth froze open stupidly. No one dared to speak. Ella crossed her arms angrily.

"But hey, if you think it's beneath you, you can leave." she said sharply

Smith didn't move. Neither did anyone else.

"Good. Then, if Harry agrees with me, I think we should all divide into pairs and practise on each other."

Harry nodded and everyone rose, kicked the cushions out of the way and paired up to begin their spellwork. It felt odd issuing orders to students both younger and older than herself, but not nearly as odd as seeing those orders followed to a tee. Hermione paired up with Ron, Elizabeth with Amir and, predictably, Neville was left without a partner so he paired up with Harry. Very quickly the room was filled with shouts of Expelliarmus. Wands flew in all directions, missed spells hit books on their shelves and sent them flying into the air. Rose and Amir were almost just as fast as each other, and their wands spun out of their hands a near-equal amount of times. Glancing around, she thought that she and her brother had the right idea in teaching the others the basics first; there was a lot of poor spellwork going around the room as many people weren't succeeding in disarming their opponents at all, but were only making them jump backwards a few paces or wince as their spells whooshed over them.

"Hey, Ramses. D'you mind practising with Neville while Harry and I walk around to correct some things?"

"Not at all, Rose." Amir smiled "Come Neville, let us see your talent."

"Uh, yeah, sure..."

The siblings went in opposite directions, surveying "their" students in action. Liz nearly got a wand in the head courtesy of Amir on the other side of the room, who sent Neville's wand flying. She went over to Hermione and Ron who, unsurprisingly was being schooled by the previous. Elizabeth took the time to correct Ron's stance and tell Hermione that her wand movement wasn't smooth enough. Ginny, who was doing very well, had teamed up with Michael Corner who was doing very poorly or simply refusing to jinx his partner. Ernie MacMillan was flourishing his wand unnecessarily which gave his partner time to get to him; the Creevy brothers were very enthusiastic but erratic, and mainly responsible for all the papers and books on the ground. Luna Lovegood was similarly patchy, occasionally sending Justin Finch-Fletchly's wand spinning out of his hand, at other times merely causing his hair to stand on end.

"Okay, stop!" Harry said, getting the same idea as Elizabeth "Stop! Stop!"

Ella thought Harry needed a whistle, and just then one materialised next to him. He took it and blew hard, making everyone lower their wands.

"That wasn't bad."

"But there's definitely room for improvement." Ella said, giving Zacharias Smith a pointed look "Let's try again."

The siblings moved around the room again making certain corrections and suggestions. Slowly, the general performance of the class improved massively. Elizabeth noticed that her brother had been avoiding going near Cho Chang and her friend for a while, but after walking twice around every other pair, she had had enough and pushed her brother towards the two girls before Liz went over to Fred and George who were no longer aiming their disarming charms at themselves but at unsuspecting others. Elizabeth didn't like Cho Chang, but it seemed like Harry did since last year so she'd decided to help him a little. Unfortunately, she couldn't help him with what he said to her which always ended up with him tripping over his words or staring at her for too long. The Slytherin dodged Terry Boot's wand which went whizzing by her ear and hit Alicia Spinnet on the side of the head.

"You know, you're supposed to be pointing those sticks towards yourselves right?" Ellie said, taking their wands from their hands just as a spell shot out and sent Justin's robes flying over his head "And not others?"

"What's the fun in that?" the twins chorused, smiling

"You're allowed to have fun, but others are trying to learn here. And I don't think that sending Justin's robes over his head is helping him."

"But we've already gotten Expelliarmus down, can't we do other spells?" Fred whined like a toddler

"If you're so good, try and disarm me." the Slytherin said in a cocky tone, an eyebrow raised

"Easy, peasy, mini-Snape. We're two years above you."

"Mini-Snape?"

"Have you seen the terrified looks the Creevy brothers are giving you?" Fred chuckled, causing the girl to roll her eyes

Fred and Ella stood ten paces apart and bowed, as written in the Formal Dueling Code of Conduct, ready to duel. George was about to start a countdown but Elizabeth ignored him and disarmed Fred quite easily, a flash of white light bursting from her wand. They both looked at her in surprise.

"I wasn't done the countdown!" George protested

"Your enemy won't wait for a countdown to kill you." Ella said coolly "You've got to be aware at all times. Practise some more."

"Yes, your Highness!" they saluted

"Actually, Lizzie, look at the time." Hermione piped up from behind her

Liz looked at the time and was shocked to see that it was just past nine o'clock, which meant they all needed to get back to their respective Common Rooms soon if they didn't want to get caught and punished by Filch, therefore Umbridge. Ella called to her brother who whistled immediately. The last of the Expelliarmus flew through the air, and a few more books flew out of their shelves. A couple of wands clattered to the floor.

"That was pretty good, everyone!" the Slytherin witch called "But we'd better leave it here if we want to get to our dorms without getting into trouble."

"Same time, same place next week." Harry added

"Sooner!" Dean Thomas said eagerly, and many people hummed in agreement

"The Quidditch season's about to start! We need practises too!" Angelina Johnson said quickly

"Right, let's say next Wednesday night, then."

"We can decide then for future meetings. Come on, let's get going." Ella decided

Harry then took out the Marauder's Map and checked for any sign of teachers on the seventh floor. He and his sister then let the students walk out in groups of three and four, watching their tiny dots scurry across the parchment to make sure they made it safely to their dormitories: the Hufflepuffs to the basement next to the kitchens; the Ravenclaws to a tower on the west side of the castle, and the Gryffindors along the corridor to the Fat Lady's portrait - the only two Slytherins were Rose and Amir, and they stayed with Ron, Harry and Hermione.

"Your teachings were splendid, Rose, Harry." Amir smiled, walking beside the former

"Yeah, it was!" Ron agreed enthusiastically "Did you see me disarm Hermione, you two?"

"Only once." Hermione said, stung "I got you loads more times than you got me-"

"I didn't get you just once, I hit you at least three times!"

"Well, if you're counting the time you tripped over your own feet and knocked the wand out of Hermione's hand, that doesn't really count now does it?" Liz laughed, making Ron look at her horrified "Oh, yeah, I saw that."

Ron and Hermione most likely argued until they reached their Common Room, but Amir and Ella only heard half of it when they split up at the staircase: the three Gryffindor students went up to their tower, the two Slytherins went down to the Dungeons. Elizabeth was beaming, but her mind was wandering. What would she tell Draco the next morning?


	78. The Serpent and the Lion

Nevermind what Elizabeth had to tell Draco the next morning. What Harry, Ron and Hermione had to say instead was more interesting. Ella didn't remember Harry staying behind in the Room of Requirement last night, but maybe that was because she and Amir were too busy laughing at Hermione and Ron's argument about who jinxed who how many times. Apparently, according to him, he and Cho Chang had kissed, much to Elizabeth's annoyance. But Liz kept quiet about her opinions about the Ravenclaw, since her brother would definitely feel the same way about the company his sister kept. Thankfully, for Elizabeth, Cho was crying which made the kiss awkward and odd for her brother, but it was still sad that she was confused about Cedric since the two were dating the previous year. The thought of Cedric made Liz furious.

The next weekend was the match that the whole school was waiting for, and Liz was on the verge of having a panic attack. She was like this every single Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch match. On one hand she'd have to keep an eye out for her brother, and on the hand she had to win for herself and her house. Honor and the pride that came with it had to be earned somehow, and Quidditch was one of the best options - that and a Slytherin being one of "the Chosen Ones". So Ella paced the floor of the locker room, waiting for Montague to rile up his team and walk out onto the pitch with them. Crabbe and Goyle, the new beaters, had been trained rather well and were obviously flocking Draco Malfoy who was tying up his boots and staring up at his girlfriend.

"I don't know know why you get so nervous before each game, Ella. You always crush it." he chuckled

"I'm aware." the girl replied absent-minded

"Then why do you look so freaked out?"

"Because I have to crush Gryffindor. Mostly I've got to crush Weasley at the rings, but he's my friend and he takes everything personally. What if he starts hating me again!?"

"Then you'll finally realize that he's an idiot and doesn't know what's best for him." Draco smirked, earning him a half-smile and an eye roll

"All right, girls listen up!" Montague yelled, coming into the locker rooms

"Isn't that a little sexist?" Ella questioned, raising an eyebrow - she was the only girl on the team

"Stow it, Evans, and listen." the girl rolled her eyes and sat down next to Draco "First I'd like to thank Weasley for trying out for the Gryffindorks and making them worse. Second, I want all of you to kick some arse and crush them by any means necessary. All right, ladies. Let's go!"

Loud cheers erupted from the green sea of Slytherins in the stands, and a song that one of them had composed was ringing in everyone's ears at the same time, nearly drowning out the Gryffindors' cheers for their own team. Weasley is Our King was the Serpents' new favourite song. All the players made their way to the center of the pitch as usual, and both captains shook hands before the lot of them mounted their brooms and the game commenced. Immediately, Elizabeth was thrown the Quaffle by Adrian Pucey and shot it in the rings in the first twenty seconds of the game, despite Alicia Spinnet's, Katie Bell's and Angelina Johnson's efforts to stop her - one of the upsides to living in a cabin in the middle of nowhere was being being able to practise her flying around obstacles and without people seeing her.

To say that Ron wasn't doing great was an understatement. He'd barely stopped any attempts on the hoops and got confused when Montague and Pucey faked an attempt on the left hoop, shooting it in the right one instead. Liz had been keeping an eye on Harry and Draco to see which one of them would see the snitch first, but both of them were simply hovering above everyone else, searching. Suddenly, Draco dove down while Harry was telling Ron something, but Liz didn't have time to pay anymore attention as Montague threw her the Quaffle and she set straight for the ginger. When Harry saw his sister soaring towards his friend, his gaze hardened and he moved, finally noticing that his "arch-enemy" had spotted the snitch. Of course, Elizabeth got the Quaffle in. As she spun around and flew after Alicia Spinnet, she noticed her brother and boyfriend were neck and neck, shoving each other with their shoulders. Just then, in one quick move, Harry spun his broom clockwise. The movement broke the two apart and spun Malfoy, making him flip upside down and smash his face onto the pitch, skidding to a rough stop. A large gasp escaped Ella lips and she accelerated until she was just beside Spinnet. The Slytherin rammed her elbow into the Gryffindor's side and grabbed the Quaffle before flipping around and scoring one last time. Sooner rather than later, the whistle blew, signaling the end of the match. However, without warning, a Bludger slammed into Harry's back, making him fall face first into the snow. Elizabeth didn't even bat an eyelash as she ran over to her boyfriend, ignoring Madam Hooch's yells directed at her for injuring Spinnet and at Crabbe for sending Harry the Bludger. Unlike her, the Gryffindor team rushed over to him.

"Bloody hell, Harry." Rose hissed, checking Draco's face. His nose was bleeding and a large bruise had formed on his jaw "You all right?"

"I'm going to punch him so hard in the face-"

"Calm down, mini-Malfoy. He's still my brother even though that was a punk-arse move to pull."

"So, I can't punch him?" Draco tried

"Unfortunately, no. Just - here. Get up and trash talk as usual. He'll get over it." Ella chuckled, helping the young Malfoy up

"You are a wonderful human being, you know that?"

"I do try."

Malfoy sauntered off towards Harry, blood still dripping from his nose. Ella sighed and ran her fingers through her locks. She knew that there was a ninety percent chance her boyfriend was going to go too far with his words and that Harry or the other Gryffindors would jump him, but Elizabeth didn't much care at this point. Sure she didn't want her brother to get in trouble for beating up her boyfriend, but he did pull a jerk move by making him smash into the pitch. And it's not like Malfoy would listen to her if she told him not to go after her brother. So, Ella did the best she could and warned him not to go too far. Not that it mattered anyway; Draco would do what he would do. The girl sighed again and moved forward after her boyfriend.

"Saved Weasley's neck, haven't you?" Draco said to Harry "I've never seen a worse Keeper... but then again, he was born in a bin... Did you like my lyrics, Potter?"

Harry didn't answer. He simply glared at his sister who was standing beside the young Malfoy, doing absolutely nothing to stop him, a nonchalant look on her face. He then turned away towards the rest of his team that had just landed one by one, yelling and punching the air in triumph; all save Ronald who had dismounted near the goal posts and left to the locker room alone.

"We wanted to write another couple of verses!" Draco called "But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly - we wanted to talk about his mother see."

"Draco, don't push it." Elizabeth warned, but as predicted he ignored her

"We couldn't fit in useless loser either - for his father you know?"

Elizabeth noticed the looks Fred and George were giving Malfoy and saw Angelina Johnson hold Fred back from colliding his fist with Draco's face. This was when Ellie knew it was enough. Fred and George had a high tolerance for annoyance, but when they got angry it was hard to bring them back down and there was no way she was going to let them punch her boyfriend or get in trouble for doing it.

"Draco, that's enough." the girl said sternly. The twins took notice

"But you like the Weasleys, don't you, Potter?" the blond continued, sneering

"Quit being a jumped-up little-"

"Spend the holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasley's hovel is all right."

"Draco Malfoy!" Elizabeth shouted, disgusted

But her shouts weren't heard as George and Harry ran towards them and tackled the blond - Fred was still being restrained by the three Gryffindor Chasers. They didn't even take the time to draw their wands and hex the Slytherin, they simply jumped him and began punching, wanting at all cost to sink their fists as hard as they could into Liz's boyfriend. Screams and gasps came from the girls, swearing came from both the Slytherins and the Weasley twins, and loud cries for help came from Elizabeth. But Madam Hooch wasn't fast enough for her, so she took out her own wand and pointed it at her brother.

"Impedimenta!" she shouted, sending Harry backwards and onto his back "What the fuck do you think you're doing!?"

"El-"

"SHUT UP!" the girl interrupted, voice shaking with anger "I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!"

Angry tears stinging her eyes, Elizabeth ran over to Draco. He was curled up on the ground, whimpering and moaning in pain. This time she knew he wasn't exaggerating at all. His nose was still bloody, his bruise was now a large gash and his lip was swollen. She immediately helped him up, supporting his weight on her shoulder and walked passed George and her bother, to whom she turned to and hissed:

"You disgust me."

"Elizabeth, wait!"

But Elizabeth didn't wait. Instead, she made sure Draco could stand on his own and rapidly turned towards Harry, colliding her fist with his jaw. The girl didn't normally resort to Muggle violence, but this time she felt it was what he deserved, no matter how wrong the things Draco said were. He had no right to hurt him the way he did - in her opinion, Harry should have let it blow over. But he didn't, and it made his sister feel guilty since she'd told Malfoy that he'd get over it. It was her fault that her boyfriend was in the condition he was in now.

"You three, up to the castle! Your behaviour disgusts me! Up! Now!" Madam Hooch bellowed

Elizabeth immediately stormed off the pitch, breathing heavily as the two boys followed her. George didn't say anything, but Harry was trying to talk to his sister who definitely wasn't having any of it at the moment. Her gaze was cold and hard, her gait was almost mechanical and her face seemed quite relaxed, but she was by no means calm. It was simply the calming before the storm.

They'd barely reached the Entrance Hall when Snape and McGonagall marched up to them. Snape's gaze said everything, but McGonagall's entire being said what was going through her mind. She was wearing a Gryffindor scarf, but she tore it off her throat with shaking hands, looking positively livid.

"In!" she said, pointing to an empty classroom

Furious, she made her way behind the desk and faced George and Harry, while Snape stood to the side with his Slytherin student, holding her tightly by the shoulder as if preventing her from running away. Something she'd gladly do at that moment. But she'd take responsibility for her actions, no matter what the consequences were.

"Well!? I have never seen such a disgraceful exhibition. Two against one! Explain yourselves!"

"Malfoy provoked us and she wasn't doing anything about it." Harry said stiffly. Liz stayed silent

"Provoked you!?" Professor McGonagall shouted, slamming a fist on the desk so hard that a small tin slid sideways off it and burst open, littering the floor with what looked like Ginger Newts "He'd just lost, hadn't he? Of course he wanted to provoke you! But what on earth can he have said that justified this!?"

"He insulted my parents." George snarled "And Harry's upbringing."

"But instead of leaving it to Madam Hooch to sort out, you two decided to give an exhibition of Muggle duelling and have your sister break you two up for assaulting her friend!? Have you any idea what you've-"

"Hem, hem."

Everyone looked towards the noise. Dolores Umbridge stood in the classroom's doorway wrapped in a green tweed cloak that greatly enhanced her resemblance to a toad. Even if, currently, Harry and both boys were angry at each other, their mutual hatred towards Umbridge was greater. The woman, if you wanted to call her that, was smiling in the horrible, sickly, ominous way that Elizabeth had come to associate with imminent misery. Her being there could not be good.

"May I help, Professors?" she asked in her most poisonously sweet voice. Blood rushed to McGonagall's face

"Help?" Snape said coolly, seemingly unphased by the woman's presence

"Why, I thought you might be grateful for a little extra authority."

"You thought wrong." McGonagall said, nostrils flaring. She looked back at the boys "Now, you two had better listen closely. I do not care what provocation Malfoy offered you, or the lack of support coming from Miss Evans, and I do not care if he insulted every family member you possess. Your behaviour was disgusting and I am giving each of you a week's worth of detentions! Do not look at me like that, Potter, you deserve it. As for Miss Evans, I hope Professor Snape will give her her just punishment for assaulting one of my students as well. And if either of you-"

"Hem, hem."

Professor Snape closed his eyes as though praying for patience, which was the only thing telling Liz that he was just as annoyed as everyone else was. McGonagall slowly turned around, nearly the same expression on her face to look at Umbridge.

"Yes?"

"I think they deserve rather more than detentions." the toad said, smiling broadly "This obviously includes Miss Evans."

"Unfortunately, it is what I think that counts, as they are in my House, Dolores. And I doubt that Miss Evans would get as severe punishment as these boys." McGonall said, attempting to reciprocate the smile but it only seemed as though she had lockjaw

"Well, actually, Minerva, I think you'll find that what I think does count. Now, where is it?" Umbridge simpered, searching through her handbag "Cornelius just sent it... I mean, the Minister just sent it... Ah!"

The woman pulled out a long roll of parchment that everyone at Hogwarts knew all too well by now. She unfurled it and cleared her throat with a girly cough before staring to read what it said.

"Hem, hem... 'Educational Decree Number Twenty-five'."

"Not another one!" Elizabeth exclaimed violently

"Well, yes." Umbridge said, still smiling " As a matter of fact, it was you, Minerva, who made me see that we needed a further amendment. You remember how you overrode me when I was unwilling to allow the Gryffindor Quidditch team to reform? How you took the case to Dumbledore, who insisted on letting the team play?"

Elizabeth frowned. How was she not aware of this?

"Well, now, I couldn't have that. I contacted the Minister and he quite agreed with me that High Inquisitor has to have the power to strip pupils of privileges, or she - that is to say I - would have less authority than common teachers! And you see now, don't you Minerva, how right I was in attempting to stop the Gryffindor team from reforming? Dreadful tempers... Anyway, I was reading out the amendment... Hem, hem."

Everyone in the room, Ellie was sure, was ready to jump at her throat. Then again, if there was a place and time for them to hold back, it was definitely in front of Dolores Umbridge.

"'The High Inquisitor will henceforth have supreme authority over all punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges pertaining to the students of Hogwarts, and the power to alter such punishments, sanctions and removal of privileges as may have been ordered by other staff members.' Signed, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, Order of Merlin First Class, etc., etc." Umbridge said airily, then rolled up the parchment and stuffed it back into her handbag "So... I really think I will have to ban these three from playing Quidditch ever again."

"Ban us? From playing... ever again?" Harry said, sounding strangely distant

"Yes, Mr Potter, I think a lifelong ban ought to do the trick. You, your sister and Mr Weasley, here. And I think, to be safe, this young man's twin ought to be stopped too."

"But Fred didn't do anything!" Ellie defended

"Well, if his teammates had not restrained him, I feel sure that he would have attacked young Mr Malfoy as well." Umbridge continued "I will want their broomsticks confiscated, of course; I shall keep them safely in my office to make sure that there is no infringement of my ban. But I am not unreasonable, professors, oh no. The rest of both teams can continue playing, as I saw no intentional violence from any of them. Well... Good afternoon to you all."

And with a look of the utmost satisfaction, Dolores Umbridge left the room, leaving a horrified silence in her wake.


	79. Nightmare at Hogwarts

Liz wasn't counting on Umbridge being so severe with her considering she was a Slytherin and the fact that she took no action towards Crabbe who definitely intended on sending that Bludger towards her brother. She'd have to have a talk with him about that. He might have assaulted her significant other, but Crabbe had no right to bludgeon Harry. Then she realised that she had no right to punch her brother for what he did - she was just as bad as him. It didn't help that she was the one who told Draco to trash talk him again, and it didn't matter that she had told him to not go too far with it. Ella was just as guilty as they were.

After Umbridge left the room, McGonagall sent George and Harry back to their Common Room, but not before they sent an apologetic look towards Ellie for assaulting Draco. The girl sent them a half smile, telling them that she'd accepted the apology and that she too was sorry for punching her brother. It seemed they understood. Snape then dragged Elizabeth out of the empty classroom and wordlessly lead her through the corridors, his firm grip now pulling her by the elbow. He was furious; Liz could tell. Her behaviour was inexcusable, but it didn't change the fact that Umbridge was the Devil and had completely overreacted.

"Explain yourself." Snape demanded once they were in his office down in the dungeons

"What do you want me to explain, professor? I punched my bother, end of story."

"I'm aware of that Miss Evans, but I couldn't care less what happens between you and your brother. My concern lies with Professor Umbridge."

"You're concerned about my miniature outburst earlier?" Liz said exasperated "Sir, I'm sure you're aware that I've done much worse."

"Yes, and I wouldn't be so proud of myself if I were you. That woman is dangerous."

"So what? I got out of my charges earlier this year quite easily."

"It doesn't mean you'll get out of it again!" Snape shouted "She has the Ministry behind her, she will find a way to silence you!"

Elizabeth let out an exasperated sigh and let herself fall into an armchair. She had almost forgotten that her potions master was in the Order of the Phoenix and he was as much concerned with her studies as he was with her life outside of Hogwarts.

"I have never, in my life, hated someone as much as I hate her." Elizabeth sighed, running her hands over her face "Ugh, I just wish You-Know-Who would pop up so we could finish her together, then we'd go back to being mortal enemies."

"Miss Evans!" Snape warned

"Well she didn't have to kick Fred off the Gryffindor team did she? He didn't do anything! And she completely exaggerated with the rest of us. Kicking us off the team... please."

"Miss Evans I suggest you lessen the attitude and act like the responsible young woman you are. Now, off to bed, you still have classes tomorrow."

"Fine. Whatever."

With a huff, Elizabeth rose from the armchair and swung her bag full of clothes onto her shoulder before exiting her professor's office. But she didn't go to her dorm. The girl had her mind set on going to the kitchens to get some food and drown her emotions. She knew that the house elves there would give anything she wanted no matter what time it was. So after tickling the pear in the portrait next to the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room, she entered the large kitchens and sat down on a stool. Almost immediately, a few house elves came to see her. Liz asked for a cuppa and a green apple, because Draco's green apple obsession had rubbed off on her, and sipped in silence. When her tea was done, the Slytherin rose and walked back out of the kitchens, apple in hand and rose it to her mouth just as she noticed Harry, Hermione and Ron running out the Entrance Hall. Ella accelerated.

"Harry!" she called, making the boy turn around. She didn't know whether he was happy to see her or not "Wait up!"

"What're you doing here?" he said simply

"I was in the kitchens; one of the house elves made me tea. I was about to head down to the Dungeons but I saw you and... and I wanted to apologize for... you know."

"You're apologizing to me?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I did punch you in the jaw." Ellie said sheepishly

"I think I'm the one who should say sorry. I'm the one who got carried away, even though he deserved it." Harry admitted

"Yeah he did a little. I told him not to go too far but when does he ever listen to me? Anyway... where're you guys headed? It's curfew soon."

"Hagrid's back!" Hermione said happily

"Well, what're we waiting for then?"

Elizabeth had missed a lot apparently. Harry had told her about Giants being involved with You-Know-Who, or was it the Order of the Phoenix? Liz couldn't remember. But upon seeing Hagrid's face full of both old and fresh wounds caused by Giants, she assumed they weren't on the Order's side.

"So you found them? The Giants I mean." Harry asked

"Well, they aren't that easy teh miss, are they?" Hagrid replied, dropping a half-frozen steak on his face to reduce the swelling of his cuts

"Well, what happened?" Hermione asked, curious

"Me and Olympe went searching on Dumbledore's orders, top secret. Oh, it was a bad journey to start with. Took a month gettin' there and all. But we found them alright. Not many of 'em left, giants. All bunched up together, not like they ought to be. Been killin' each other as much as anyone else..."

"You walked up to a bunch of Giants!?" Ron said weary

"Sure we did. Well, more like walked down to 'em. About a good ninety or so of 'em, I'd imagine." Hagrid continued

"And they didn't try to kill you?" Liz asked

"Oh, it was def 'nitly on some o' their minds, I bet. But we brought 'em presents. Giants love presents; who doesn't?"

"Presents? What d'ya bring them; food?" Ron suggested

"Naw, they got enough of that. We brought magic. Giants love magic, just not when it's used on 'em. Problem was, we weren't the only ones bringin' 'em presents. Dumbledore told us it might happen, just wasn't expectin' it to be so quick."

"Death Eaters?" Ella winced. Hagrid nodded

"Right you are, Elizabeth. Problem is they liked killin' 'bout as much as 'em Giants do. Had more in common. By then it was pointless. Them Death Eaters are smooth talkers too."

"But that had to be about six months ago, Hagrid. What took you so long to come back?" Harry asked

"Well, it was a bit difficult you see. Had a heavy load, I'm 'fraid."

"Hagrid, did you find your mother?" Hermione questioned

"Dead. Few years ago." the Half-Giant answered

"Hagrid, I'm sorry..."

"Naw, wasn't much of a mother. But... there's somethin' else you should see."

Elizabeth was very annoyed that people insisted on dragging her into the Dark Forest in the middle of the night. It wasn't as if there was a blinking sign on her forehead telling everyone she enjoyed it. In fact, it was the complete opposite; she was terrified of that place because of past experiences and she knew that the others were aware of her fear. Did they seem to care? Not particularly. And so, Hagrid lead the small group of children deeper and deeper into the Dark Forest as if it was no problem. Luckily, Harry didn't mind his sister crushing his hand. Suddenly, as they reached a clearing, a heavy noise could be heard. Was it... breathing?

"Hagrid... what is that?" Liz asked, scared out of her wits. The only thing that gave it away was her bone shattering grip

"Yeh see, when I found out what happened to my mother, the other Giants pointed something else to me." Hagrid said, then pointed to the clearing "And there he is..."

"Hagrid... Tell me you didn't." Hermione said, slightly panicked

"I had to."

A good twenty feet before them, in the middle of the clearing in the dark and twisted trees, was what looked like a mount of earth going up and down. As the light from their lanterns got closer and defined what was in front of them, Elizabeth saw that a Giant was sleeping at their feet. Hermione took a step back, Ron hid behind her and Ella took a few steps back so she was just behind her brother.

"Had me a time pullin' him along, him being bigger than me an' all. But we got along fine." Hagrid continued

"Oh, no, Hagrid, why didn't you leave him were he was!?"

"I couldn't! He's my brother."

"When you say brother..." Harry cut himself off

"Half-brother, yeh see. Mum went and had him a few years ago... Oh, look. He's wakin' up." the mound of 'earth' began to move "Grawp, wakey, wakey."

"Grawp?" Hermione said

"Uh, Hagrid? Don't you think he's better asleep?" Ella suggested, hoping he'd listen. She then whispered to Harry "Oh, God, he's looking at us. Shit, shit, shit."

"Grawp! This is Harry Potter." Hagrid said to the giant, pointing Harry. He then turned to Liz and Hermione "D'you mind if he calls you two Hermy and Liz? Names are a bit long for 'im."

"Sure." Hermione squeaked, visibly terrified

"And this is Hermy, Liz and Ron!"

"Yeah, nice meeting him, Hagrid... Can we leave now?" Ella said, voice threatening to uncover her fear

"If yeh want to, jus' wanted yeh to know, that's all. And maybe, yeh know, check in on 'im once in a while?"

"Hagrid, I don't know if we could-"

"Oh, it wouldn't be much." Hagrid interrupted Harry "Just once a week or somethin' and only if somethin' happens teh me. Heard 'bout that Umbridge character; can't imagine she'd like me much, eh?"

"Uh... Okay..."

"Knew I could count on yeh, Harry!" Hagrid smiled, then turned to Grawp "See? New friends, Grawp!"

The Giant stared down at each and every one of them and Hagrid turned back to the children with a satisfied smile on his face just as Grawp playfully knocked Hagrid down with a tap on the shoulder from one of his enormous fingers. And that was the story of how Elizabeth had even more trouble sleeping than usual. When she got back to her dorm after sneaking past Mrs. Norris and Filch, Ellie dragged herself to a table in the Common Room and took an hour to finish up a foot-long parchment on the Draught of Peace for Potions class the next day.

* * *

All was quiet... Abnormally quiet. Moving down a dark corridor as if she were slithering like the Serpent she was, Elizabeth was looking everywhere, sneaking around corners. Suddenly, ankles... then legs... then a whole man came into view. The girl accelerated. The man turned just in time to see the attack coming... It was Arthur Weasley.

Elizabeth's eyes snapped open, entire body covered in sweat. She rose quickly and didn't even bother to put on a robe as she bolted out of her Common Room and ran up the stairs from the Dungeons. She even ignored Peeves who began yelling about a student out of bed and Filch telling her to stop running. Liz simply ran up the moving staircases and went up to the sleeping Fat Lady in a panic.

"Mimbulus Mimbletonia!" she shouted at her snoring figure. The woman jolted awake

"Good God, woman! I don't have the habit of letting in students in the middle of the night, let alone a Slytherin." she replied crossly

"But I've got the password and it's an emergency! I need to see my brother; it's a matter of life and death!"

Suddenly, the door swung open and Dean Thomas came out, slightly panicked. Elizabeth took the opportunity to run inside and bolt up the stairs to the boys' dormitory where Harry and Ron were already awake. Harry had tears prickling his eyes.

"Ron, your dad! He's hurt, bad!" she shouted, waking Neville

"You too? Bloody hell, something's definitely not right, then." Ron said quietly

Just then, Dean came back with McGonagall.

"Potter? What's wrong? Evans? What are you doing out of your Common Room?" McGonagall asked rapidly

"Mr. Weasley's in trouble!" Harry yelled

"He was attacked by a giant snake, I saw it!" Ellie continued

"So did I, I swear; we're not mad!"

"I believe you. Come on, we're going to see the Headmaster."

Still all in their pyjamas, McGonagall, Harry and Elizabeth walked rapidly through the darkened corridors and went up the gargoyle staircase to Dumbledore's office. The circular room was lit my dozens of candles, obviously just lit as their glow was still weak when the four entered. The Headmaster was sitting behind his desk, a soft smile on his face, quite the contrast to Harry's panicked expression.

"Good evening, Professor.. ah! Harry, Elizabeth, what seems to be the matter?" he said in his usual soft voice

"Both Potter and Evans have had... a nightmare." McGonagall answered

"It was real, Professor, I swear!" Harry gasped "We saw a snake attacking Mr. Weasley - a giant snake!"

"How did you see it?"

"It was as if... I - we were the snake..." Liz said, contemplatively, thoughts in overdrive

"Was Arthur seriously injured?"

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed

Dumbledore paused and seemed deep in thought, just like Elizabeth. Both of their expressions, however, were unreadable. The Headmaster then turned to the nearest portrait.

"Everard! The man has red hair. Make sure he is found by the right people."

"Right away." said the man in the portrait, then disappeared

"Professor, alert the other Weasley children." Dumbledore continued "I am sure they'll want to know what's happened to their father."

"Of course, Albus." McGonagall replied, then left the office

"Don't worry, you two. They'll find him."

Just then, Everard returned to his portrait. He was nearly the only one there - all the other portraits were empty except for one which showed a sleeping Phineas Nigellus Black.

"Dumbledore! He doesn't look good. They're taking him to St-Mungos right away."

"Thank you, Everard."

Dumbledore got up to open a large wooden cupboard, from which he took out a blackened kettle. He raised his wand and tapped it, muttering words under his breath. He then turned to Phineas Nigellus Black's portrait, where he was dressed darkly and quietly snoring. The Headmaster tapped the frame gently.

"Phineas... Phineas!"

"You called, Headmaster?" the man said groggily, waking up

"I need you to visit your portrait at the Black house." Dumbledore demanded "You need to alert Sirius what has been happening and to expect Potter, Evans and the Weasleys. Their father has been hurt. Understand?"

"Father injured; kids, Potter and Evans coming to stay. Got it."

Phineas walked out of his portrait with a yawn. The Headmaster turned to both children.

"Sirius' great-great grandfather. He was once Headmaster here... Rather unpopular, actually."

Elizabeth managed a dry chuckle just as McGonagall came back into the office with Fred, George, Ginny and Ron following closely behind, all looking terrified. Ginny was about to speak but Dumbledore was faster.

"Listen: your father has been injured in the course of his work for the Order of the Phoenix. He is, at this very moment, being moved to St-Mungos." he said, then pointed to the kettle "This is a portkey. It will take you all to the House."

"But what about Umbridge?" Liz said, almost disdainfully

"She is aware you're all awake. Minerva, head her off - tell her anything but the truth." McGonagall was out in a flash "All right, everyone gather 'round and grab hold. Ready? One... two... three-"


	80. Snake Bites

It happened in a fraction of a second. In the microscopic pause that Dumbledore made before saying 'three', Elizabeth looked up at him and the man's clear blue gaze looked up from the Portkey to the raven-haired twins for the first time tonight. At once, Elizabeth's lip scar burned white-hot, as though the fifteen year old wound had burst open again - and spontaneous, unwanted, but terrifyingly strong, there rose a hatred so powerful that he felt, for that instant, to strike and to sink her fangs into the man before her.

All the children felt a powerful jerk behind the navel, the ground vanished from beneath their feet, their hands were glued to the blackened kettle; they were all banging into each other as they all sped forwards in a swirl of colour and sound, the kettle pulling them onward until their feet hit the ground so hard their knees buckled and they all clattered to the ground. Someone close at hand then said:

"Back again, the blood-traitor brats! Is it true their father's dying?"

"OUT!" roared a second voice

Harry and Elizabeth both scrambled to their feet and looked around; they had arrived in the gloomy dining room of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place - Ron had knocked over a few chairs as he landed. The only sources of light were from the fireplace and the few candles that were scattered around. Kreacher, the Black's house elf, was only just disappearing through the door to the hall, looking back malevolently as he hitched up his loincloth. Sirius was hurrying towards them all, looking positively anxious. He was unshaven and still in his day clothes, a whiff of stale drink about him.

"What's going on?" he asked, stretching out a hand to help Ginny up "Phineas Nigellus said that Arthur's been badly injured-"

"Ask Harry and Ellie." Fred said

"Yeah, I want to hear this for myself." George added

The twins and Ginny were all staring at them. Kreacher's footsteps stopped on the stairs outside. Elizabeth kept quiet as Harry began to explain what had happened. He told them that they had seen it happen from the sidelines rather as if they were the snake. The thought of her being the snake, being the one to attack Arthur Weasley didn't scare her, but it did unsettle her. It wasn't normal for her to have dreams in that perspective, especially since the dream she was having before that one seemed completely normal. Sirius noticed her face, seemingly deep in thought, and the nearly unnoticeable frown that washed over it when Harry lied. Ron, who was still very white, gave him a fleeting look, but didn't say anything. Fred, George and Ginny continued to stare at him and his sister for a bit.

"Is Mum here?" Fred asked, turning to Sirius

"She probably doesn't even know what happened yet." he replied "The important thing was to get you away before Umbridge could interfere. I expect Dumbledore's letting Molly know."

"We've got to go to St Mungo's." Ginny said urgently. She looked around at everyone still in their pyjamas "Sirius, can you lend us some cloaks or anything?"

"Hang on, you can't go tearing off to St Mungo's!"

"'Course we can go to St Mungo's if we want!" Fred said with a mulish expression"He's our dad!"

"And how are you going to explain how you knew Arthur was attacked before the hospital even let his wife know?"

"What does that matter?" George added hotly

"It matters because we don't want to draw attention to the fact that Harry and Liz are having visions of things that are happening miles away!" Sirius argued "Have you any idea what the Ministry would make of that information?"

Fred and George looked like they couldn't care less what the Ministry made of anything. Ron was still pale-faced and silent.

"Someone else could have told us... we could have heard from someone else other than Harry and Liz." Ginny suggested

"Like who?" Sirius continued, impatiently "Listen, your dad's been hurt while on duty for the Order and the circumstances are fishy enough without his children knowing about it seconds after it happened, you could seriously damage the Order's-"

"We don't care about the dumb Order!" Fred shouted, nearly making Elizabeth's ears hurt

"It's our dad dying we're talking about!" George insisted

"Your father knew what he was getting into and he won't thank you for messing things up for the Order! This is how it is - this is why you're not in the Order. You don't understand... there are things worth dying for!"

"Easy for you to say, stuck here!" Fred bellowed "I don't see you risking your neck!"

Elizabeth snapped out of her trance immediately, nearly deaf to the argument raging around her. The little colour remaining in Sirius' face had drained from it. He looked for a moment as if he wanted to hit Fred for saying those words, but Elizabeth spoke up for the first time since getting to Grimmauld Place, preventing Sirius from making matters worse than they already were.

"Look, guys, I know its hard." she said in the softest voice anyone had ever heard her speak in "But we've all got to act as though we don't know anything yet. Sirius is right: we've got to stay put, at least until we hear from Molly... All right?"

Fred and George's mutinous demeanor lessened substantially, but they were definitely still furious. Ginny, however, took a few steps over to the nearest chair and dropped into it. The twins sat on either side of her. Harry looked over at Ron, who made a funny movement between a nod and a shrug, and they sat down too. Elizabeth sighed, relieved and looked over at Sirius who smiled gratefully at her. She walked out into the empty hallway and began thinking.

Much time passed before Sirius accio'ed some Butterbeer for everyone, the tension mostly settled down. Ella's stomach couldn't contain warm Butterbeer because it was already filled with horribly hot, bubbling guilt. If Elizabeth hadn't rushed to the Gryffindor Common Room in the middle of the night, the Weasleys wouldn't be here; they'd all still be asleep in bed. And it didn't help to tell herself that she'd saved Arthur by raising the alarm, because there was also the chance that it was her or her brother that had attacked him. Don't be stupid, you don't have fangs, she told herself, keeping calm as she paced in the hallway. You were lying in bed, you weren't attacking anyone... But then again, it seemed as if I wanted to attack Dumbledore earlier. Come on, near-Ravenclaw brain - function!

"You all right?"

Elizabeth turned towards the voice: it was Sirius. She sighed and ran her cold hands over her face.

"Harry wasn't telling the truth, Sirius... The dream - the vision - it was in our point of view; I was the snake... I bit him." the girl whispered "And I felt like... I wanted to do it; biting him was the only thing I could think of. Dammit, Sirius, what's happening!?"

Ellie punched the wall, leaving a small dent. She flexed her hand in pain - it would be throbbing for the next hour or so.

"Listen to me." Sirius said, holding Liz at arms length "Neither you or Harry did this. If it wasn't for you, it would have been hours before they found Arthur, and it'd be too late. This is not your fault."

"But how come I saw it? Merlin, I hate not being able to use my head!" the girl growled

"I don't know why this is happening, Liz - I wish I did. But you have to trust yourself."

Elizabeth sighed, dejected, and let her head drop onto Sirius' chest, onyx hair hiding whatever was on either side of her face. If Harry, Fred, George, Ginny or even Ron could see her now... they'd barely recognise her limp figure, trapped in Sirius' arms. Never would they think that their strong, opinionated little Slytherin could feel so guilty, so broken; Sirius was more surprised that she was letting her guard down in front of him.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Elizabeth flew away from the man and wiped the single tear that had fallen from her moss green eyes. Sirius looked at her with a pained expression, instantly noticing her change in demeanor - she was back to hiding her true emotions. Mrs Weasley walked in, eyes still puffy from the tears she must have shed, contrary to the young Slytherin in front of her. Everyone ran into the hallway, holding their breaths.

"He's going to be okay." Mrs Weasley announced

Fred felt as if he could breathe again, and a tear of happiness (or relief) fell down his face. Ginny rushed over in complete tears to embrace her mother. Fred and George soon did the same, and Sirius placed a comforting hand on Harry's and Elizabeth's shoulders, smiling.

"Thank God for you two!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed "I don't even want to think what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

Both siblings looked at each other. Harry blankly stared at the woman, barely able to stand her gratitude, as he was feeling just as guilty as Elizabeth. She, on the other hand, put on a brave face and smiled. Sirius wasn't able to tell she nearly had an emotional breakdown merely a few minutes ago.

* * *

Everyone but Harry and Elizabeth spent the morning sleeping in, recharging after staying up late to wait for Molly to arrive from St Mungo's with news of Arthur. While Fred and George crawled into bed, bid her goodnight and fell asleep merely moments after their heads hit the pillow, Ellie sat upright on her bed, knees against her chest and back flattened on the wooden bedstead, keeping herself deliberately uncomfortable as to not fall asleep and wake to find that she'd attacked Fred or George in her sleep, or else slithered towards someone in another part of the house...

When the twins woke up the next morning, Ellie feigned having a refreshing night's sleep just like they had had. Their filled trunks had arrived from Hogwarts a few minutes prior, filled with everything they'd need over the Christmas holiday and the few weeks beforehand. It was useful for their trip to St Mungo's today, as they wouldn't have to remain in their pyjamas all day or wear their robes. Everyone was immensely happy that morning, getting dressed to go see Arthur, save Harry who wasn't very talkative or Elizabeth who didn't really speak unless necessary, especially since she hadn't slept a wink.

When Tonks and Mad-Eye arrived to escort them to London, Ella was disappointed to see that Remus wasn't there with them. Nevertheless, she greeted them, a fake smile on her face, laughing at the bowler hat Mad-Eye was wearing at an angle over his magical eye and assured him, truthfully, that Tonks' pink hair would attract much less attention on the Underground. Tonks seemed very interested in Harry and Elizabeth's vision of the attack on Mr Weasley, something that neither of them were even remotely interested in discussing.

"There isn't any Seer blood in your family is there?" she asked

"No." Harry replied, thinking of Professor Trelawney and feeling slightly insulted

"No... No, I suppose it's not really prophecy you're doing is it? I mean, you're not seeing the future, you're seeing the present... It's odd, isn't it? Useful though..."

Tonks was right, she wasn't seeing the future or the past, but the present. What in God's name was happening to her and her brother? Fortunately, Tonks didn't get to pester the siblings about the subject any further as they exited the train and stepped out into the wintry air on a broad store-lined street packed with frantic Christmas shoppers. Elizabeth followed Fred and George closely until they reached a large, old-fashioned, red-brick department store called Purge & Dowse Ltd. The place was shabby and miserable looking; the window display consisted of a few chipped dummies and a large sign that said: Closed for Refurbishment. Liz heard a woman nearby say that the place had never been open.

"Right." Tonks said, beckoning everyone towards the ugliest of the dummies "Everybody ready?"

All the children nodded and Tonks leaned in towards the window.

"Wotcher," she said barely above a whisper "we're here to see Arthur Weasley."

Just as Ella thought it was ridiculous that the Hospital was in such a public place, Tonks stood up straight and walked through the glass with Ginny and Mrs Weasley, vanishing instantly. The Slytherin smiled - she never ceased to be amazed by magic. Fred and George each grabbed one of Elizabeth's hands and lead her forward through the glass which felt like walking through a sheet of cool water. Moody, Harry and Ron soon followed. There was no sign of the hideous storefront where Elizabeth, Fred and George had emerged. Instead, they were in what seemed like a very busy reception area where rows of witches and wizards say upon rickety wooden chairs, some looking perfectly healthy and perusing out-of-date copies of Witch Weekly and the Daily Prophet, others sporting gruesome disfigurements like elephant trunks sprouting from their faces or extra hands sticking out their chests. The room was barely quieter than the bustling streets outside, since most of the patients were making very loud and peculiar noises: a sweaty-faced witch in the front row was fanning herself vigorously with a magazine while whistling like a teapot, hot steam pouring out her ears and nose, and a grubby-looking wizard in the corner clanged like a cow bell every time he moved. Witches and wizards in lime-green robes were walking up and down the rows of chairs, asking questions and scribbling their answers on clipboards like Umbridge's. Liz noticed an emblem embroidered in their chests: a wand and bone, crossed.

"Healers?" Liz questioned

"Yes, m'mam!" Fed and George chorused

"Over here!" Mrs Weasley called over the sound of the teapot whistling and bell clanging, as she stood in line at the Enquiries line "Hello, I'm here to see Arthur Weasley; he was supposed to be transferred to a different ward this morning, could you tell us-"

"Anrthur Weasley?" the plump blonde witch answered "Yes, first floor, second door on the right, Dai Llewellyn Ward."

"Thank you. Come on, you lot."

Her hands still being held by Fred and George, Elizabeth followed Mrs Weasley's rapid pace through large double doors and along the corridor beyond, which was lined with portraits of famous Healers and lit by crystal bubbles full of candles that floated up to the ceiling, looking like giant soapsuds. After passing a room that emanated a foul-smelling yellow gas and distant wailing, the group climbed a flight of stairs and entered the Creature-Enduced Injuries corridor, where the second door on the right sported the words: Dangerous! Dai Llewellyn Ward: Serious Bites.

Tonks and Mad-Eye waited outside as they didn't want to crowd the room; Tonks said it should be family first, then left with Moody. Harry and Elizabeth hesitated before entering, but Molly insisted that Arthur wanted to thank them so they went inside alongside the Weasleys. The ward was small and rather dingy, as the only window was narrow and set very high so that most of the light in the room didn't come from it, but rather from the bubble candles on the ceiling. The walls were paneled oak and a rather vicious-looking wizard stared down at every one in the room from his portrait. Both Harry and his sister were pleased to see that Mr Weasley was sitting upright in his bed, propped up on several pillows and reading the Daily Prophet in the solitary ray of sunlight coming from the miniature window. He looked up as the group walked towards him and beamed.

"Hello!" he called, throwing the Prophet aside "Bill just left, Molly. He had to get back to work but he said he'd drop in on you later."

"How are you, Arthur?" Mrs Weasley asked, bending down to kiss his cheek and look anxiously at his face "You're still looking a bit peaky."

"I feel absolutely fine, Molly." Mr Weasley said brightly, holding out his arm to hug Ginny "If they could only take the bandages off, I'd be fit to go home."

"Why can't they take the bandages off, Dad?" Fred asked

"Well, I start bleeding like mad every time they try. It seems there was some rather unusual kind of poison in that snake's fangs that keeps wounds open."

Elizabeth recalled a very rare potion that could fix that from a book she'd read in the restricted section once. It was highly unlikely that it was legal and known by the Healers at St Mungo's.

"They're sure they'll find an antidote, though; they say they've had much worse cases than mine, and in the meantime I just have to keep taking... Oh, what was it called?"

"A Blood-Replenishing Potion, every hour." Liz answered for Arthur

"Yes, exactly! Speaking of which, are you familiar with a Muggle remedy called stitches?" Mr Weasley asked

"Arthur, I will not have you sewn back together by some Muggle!" Molly interjected, causing Fred and George to chuckle

"It was just a thought, Molly."

"Hey, Dad, you ever gonna tell us what happened?" Fred asked, sitting down and pulling Liz down to sit on his lap. She smiled down at him

"Well, you already know don't you?" Arthur replied with a big smile "It's very simple - I'd had a very long day, dozed off, got sneaked up on and bitten."

"Is it in the Prophet, you being attacked?"

"No, of course not! The Ministry wouldn't want everyone to know that a dirty great serpent got-"

"Arthur!" Molly warned him

"- got, er, me!"

All the children got the feeling that that wasn't what he intended to say.

"So where were you when it happened, Dad?" George asked

"That's my business." Mr Weasley replied, looking back into his copy of the Daily Prophet

"When you said you were 'on duty', what were you doing?" Fred insisted

"You heard your father." Mrs Weasley whispered "We are not discussing this here!"

"You were guarding it, weren't you? The weapon? The thing You-Know-Who is after?" George continued quietly

"George, be quiet!" Molly snapped

Elizabeth suddenly had an idea.

"Wait, Harry, doesn't You-Know-Who have a massive snake?"


	81. God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs

Early mornings were their own reward. The mountains were silhouettes against lavender skies. There was no drone of cars, or the dissatisfying crunch they made as they moved across the snow-coated streets; there was only the cry of owls floating around the exterior mall. There was something about the dawn that calmed Elizabeth as she looked out the small window in Arthur Weasley's empty hospital room. By contrast, waking later felt like rudeness, the sun already high and hot, like the way she'd been waking from nightmares recently. At this hour, the air was crisp and cool, so refreshing.

A clearing of the throat brought Elizabeth out of her daze. She turned around to see the no one there. The girl moved forward curiously, exiting the room and entering the hallway. Liz noticed Phineas Nigellus' portrait hanging further down; something that didn't strike her as odd even though it wasn't there the previous day. She walked up to the portrait, but found it empty. As the girl was about to pass it, the same sound was heard. She turned to the portrait again.

"Not running away, are you?" the man said

"What? No," Elizabeth said, startled. "Besides, there's no one here."

"You struck me as a very brave Slytherin, Elizabeth. Of course, other Slytherins are too, but we aren't stupid like Gryffindors; we know when it's time to save our own necks."

"I'm not saving my own neck," Liz said indignantly.

"I see," Phineas replied. "So this is you being noble? Thinking yourself dangerous, I bet. I must admit that seeing the Dark Lord's actions in dreams is very odd. I supposed running away would be noble... Many would say it was indeed saving your own neck."

"What else am I supposed to do!? I'm not safe - anyone could be next and I can't do anything to stop it!"

"Young people, so infernally convinced that they are absolutely right about everything," the man in the portrait sighed. Ella kept quiet and waited for him to slip up about something "Has it not occurred to you, my poor puffed-up popinjay, that there might be an excellent reason as to why the Headmaster of Hogwarts is not confiding every tiny detail of his plans to you? No. No, like all young people, you and your stupid brother are convinced that you alone feel and think, you alone recognise danger, you alone are the only ones clever enough to realise what the Dark Lord may be planning-"

"HA!" exclaimed Elizabeth. "So, he is planning something to do with me, then?"

Phineas observed her quietly, idly fiddling with his silk gloves. He let out a small, dry chuckle.

"How very Slytherin of you," he said simply. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have better things to do that to listen to adolescent agonizing... Good day."

He strolled to the edge of his frame and out of sight. Elizabeth huffed angrily.

"Fine, go then!" she yelled at the empty frame. "And tell Dumbledork thanks for fucking nothing!"

Suddenly the scene changed and Elizabeth was now standing in a dingy public bathroom, eyes fixated on the sink she was leaning over. Tears were prickling her reddened eyes and her breathing was jagged as if she were only just stopping the flow of tears that were once coming down her face. What Phineas Nigellus Black had said was too much: Voldemort planning something for her and Harry, him saying that she was only saving her skin by running away from an empty room, telling her that Dumbledore was withholding important information from herself and her brother - she was so confused, so terrified. However, there was so much more. Elizabeth felt as though she'd journeyed for miles and miles by foot. It seemed nearly impossible that only a few days ago she was nearly caught kissing Draco in an empty classroom... she was so tired, but so scared to fall asleep. She recalled the events of the previous day.

"Fine," Fred said coolly, rummaging his pockets, "be like that. Don't tell us anything."

"Looking for these?" George said, holding out what looked like a tangle of flesh coloured skin. Liz knew what these were.

"You read my mind." Fred grinned. "Let's see if St Mungo's puts Imperturbable Charms on its ward doors, shall we?"

The Weasley twins disentangled the string and separated six Extendable Ears from each other, a product they'd created (with Ellie's help) to sell in the joke shop they wanted to open. They handed them around. Harry hesitated to take one unlike his sister.

"Go on, Harry, take it! You and Ellie saved Dad's life. If anyone's got the right to eavesdrop on him, it's you two." Harry, grinning despite himself took one and inserted it into his ear. "Ok, go!"

The flesh coloured strings wriggled like worms and snaked under the door. At first, none of them could hear anything, but soon they could all hear Tonks whispering just as if she were standing right beside them.

"... they searched the whole area but couldn't find the snake anywhere. It just seems to have vanished after it attacked you, Arthur... But You-Know-Who can't have expected a snake to get in, can he?"

"I reckon he sent it as a lookout," Moody growled, "'cause he's not had any luck so far, has he? No, I reckon he's trying to get a clearer picture of what he's facing and if Arthur hadn't been there the beast would've had a lot more time to look around. So, Potter and Evans said they saw it all happen?"

"Yes," Mrs Weasley said. She sounded rather uneasy. "You know, Dumbledore seems almost to have been waiting for Harry and Elizabeth to see something like this."

"Yeah, well," Moody continued, "there's something funny about those kids, we all know that."

"Dumbledore seemed worried about them when I spoke to him this morning." Molly added in a whisper

"'Course he's worried. The kids are seeing things from inside You-Know-Who's snake. Obviously, Potter doesn't realise what it means - Evans might figure it out sooner, both parents... practically geniuses - but if You-Know-Who's possessing him-"

Both Harry and Elizabeth pulled the Extendable Ear from their own, their hearts hammering in their chests and heart rising to their faces. They looked around at the others. They were all staring at them, the strings still trailing from their ears, looking suddenly fearful.

The Slytherin sighed. Was this why Dumbledore refused to meet Harry and Liz's eyes? Did he expect to see Voldemort staring out of them, afraid that their green would turn to red? Elizabeth would never know for sure, and it bothered her terribly. She felt dirtied, contaminated, violated in the sense that she could no longer trust her mind to give her answers when it was being invaded by the Dark Lord himself. She then washed her face, wiping away the evidence of any kind of sadness, trying to rid her memory of everything bad thing that came to mind. Liz then dried her face with a rough peach-coloured towel, then looked up at her reflection. But the reflection wasn't her own. It was Voldemort's, his snake-like scarlet eyes staring right back into her moss green ones, smiling as if he knew every nook and cranny of her very soul.

Both Harry and his sister jolted awake at the same exact moment, but they hadn't the faintest idea that it had happened. Harry woke lying down on a bench in St Mungo's, a jacket pulled over him as a blanket. His head was resting on Hermione's lap, who was sitting down fast asleep and had arrived a few hours earlier by Knight Bus from Hogsmeade, with Dumbledore's special permission. Ron was on her other side, head leaning against her shoulder, and hers slightly cushioning on his. Ella woke in similar circumstances, only she and the Weasley twins were still sitting with Ginny, Molly and Arthur, no longer wide awake and conversing quietly as to not wake the trio of children sleeping a mere four feet away, but rather in a deep slumber, heads lolling forwards.

* * *

 _Dear Draco,_

 _Sorry that I had to leave school earlier than predicted this year, but Arthur Weasley was badly injured and I was asked to stay with the family. Thank you for sending me the homework that I thought I'd avoided - I guess if you have to suffer this without me, I'm okay with it._

 _I know you don't care, but Arthur's fine, now, and I'll be returning to school at the same time as you. I'm spending Christmas with the Weasley's, Hermione and Remus so don't worry about me lacking food; I still don't understand why you worry about that (hint: stop carrying that extra apple for me.)_

 _I miss you terribly,_

 _Love, Ella_

On Christmas Eve morning, Ella dressed for the occasion; everyone was cleaning and putting up Christmas decorations that Sirius was enchanting as they went. Elizabeth could not remember Sirius being in such a good mood that in that moment; he was actually singing Christmas Carols - some of which she knew, others the man would teach her on the spot - apparently delighted that he was to have company over the holidays. Liz wasn't happy that she had to lie to Draco about what she was doing or what exactly had happened, and she dreaded the moment she returned and had to fully explain the events. Sirius' echoing voice interrupted her dark thoughts, however, and made her sing along with Fred and George who were using some sort of Charm to make their voices constantly change pitch. When they were all done, the house was barely recognisable. The tarnished chandeliers were no longer caked with dust and cobwebs, but with garlands of holly and gold and silver streamers; magical snow glittered in heaps all over the carpets; a great Christmas tree, "purchased" by Mundungus Fletcher and decorated with live fairies and enchanted ornaments, blocked Sirius' family tree from view, and even the stuffed elf-heads on the walls wore Santa hats and beards.

Meanwhile, Harry had been avoiding everyone, something they'd expected Elizabeth to do instead of him, considering she was the quieter one these days save the times when she got angry. He rarely came down to eat breakfast, lunch or dinner, and avoided people's glances when he did, scared that if he'd look at anything he'd send the information to Voldemort directly. That same night, after the entirety of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was decorated with enchanted items, Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Elizabeth had finally decided that Harry's sulking had to come to a stop, so they marched up the stairs and to the room where Sirius had been keeping Buckbeak. Hermione knocked loudly on the door. The others hid as to not corner the boy if he did open it.

"I know you're in there," she said. "Will you please come out?"

"What're you still doing here?" Harry asked her, pulling open the door. "I thought you were supposed to go skiing your mum and dad?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, skiing's not really my thing," Hermione continued. "So I've come here for Christmas. Mum and Dad are a disappointed, but I've told them that everyone who is serious about the exams is staying at Hogwarts to study. They want me to do well, they'll understand. Anyway," she said briskly, "let's go to your room, Ron's mum had lit a fire and sent up sandwiches."

The other children took this as an opportunity to run off to Ron and Harry's shared bedroom. Luckily for them, Ella wordless put a silencing charm on them so that they wouldn't make any noise as they madly dashed towards the other end of the hall. She removed once they were all seated. Soon, Harry and Hermione walked in. The former was surprised to see that everyone was there. The latter sat down between Ginny and her 'sister'. They all looked up at Harry.

"How're you feeling?" Hermione asked.

"Fine," Harry said stiffly.

"Oh, don't lie Harry," Elizabeth replied impatiently. "Ron, Ginny and I just told Hermione you've been hiding from everyone ever since you got back from St Mungo's."

"You did, did you?" Harry answered, glaring at her and the two Weasleys. Ron looked down at his feet, but Ginny didn't bat an eyelash.

"Well, you have!" Ginny said. "And you won't look at any of us!"

"It's you lot who won't look at me!"

"Maybe you're taking it in turns to look, and keep missing each other." Hermione suggested, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards.

"Very funny," Harry snapped, looking away.

"Oh, stop feeling all misunderstood, Mister Dark and Broody," Ellie said sharply, voice laced with sarcasm "Besides, they've all been looking at me and I'm going through the same shit you are."

"Look," Hermione began, "the others have told me what you overheard on the Extendable Ears-"

"Yeah?" Harry growled, his hands deep in his pockets as he stared at the snow falling hard outside. "All been talking about me, have you? Well, I'm getting used to it."

"We wanted to talk to you, Harry," Ginny said, "but seeing as you've been hiding ever since we got back-"

"I didn't want anyone to talk to me," the boy continued, getting more and more annoyed.

"Well, that's a bit stupid of you," his sister snapped again, "seeing as we don't know anyone but Ginny, here, who's been possessed by You-Know-Who and can tell us exactly how it feels!"

The boy spun around silently. You could still hear Sirius, Fred and George singing 'God Rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs' at the top of their voices.

"I'm sorry," he said. Liz knew he meant it. "I forgot."

"Lucky you," Ginny replied coolly.

"So... so, do you think I'm - we're - being possessed then?"

"Well, can you remember everything you've been doing? Are there big blank periods where you don't know what you've been up to?"

"No." Liz answered nearly immediately. Harry said the same.

"Then You-Know-Who hasn't ever possessed you," Ginny said simply. "When he did it to me, I couldn't remember what I'd been doing for hours at a time. I'd find myself somewhere and not know how I got there."

This made complete sense to Elizabeth, who knew that possession, even in the wizarding world, was rare and hardly ever accomplished properly. Harry, however, hardly dared believe her, yet his heart lightened almost in spite of himself.

"That dream we had about the snake though-"

"Harry, you've had these kinds of dreams before," Hermione interrupted. "You two had flashes of what You-Know-Who was up to last year."

"Yeah, but that was different," Ella conceded. "Harry didn't exactly tell you this because he's stupid-"

"Hey!"

"- but we were inside the snake." No one seemed surprised. "It was as if we were the snake."

"What if Voldemort somehow transported us to London?" Harry exclaimed

At this, Elizabeth couldn't help but chuckle. Her brother glared at her.

"One day," Hermione said, sounding thoroughly exasperated, "you'll read Hogwarts: A History, and perhaps it will remind you that you can't Apparate or Disapparate inside Hogwarts. Even Voldemort couldn't just make you fly out of your dormitory, Harry."

"You didn't leave your bed, mate," Ron said. "I saw you thrashing around in your sleep for at least a minute before we could wake you up."

"But then how-"

"OH MY GOD!" Elizabeth shouted, suddenly realising something.

"What!?" everyone shouted back.

"Harry, Elizabeth," Molly Weasley said, standing at the door; it prevented Ella from telling them what she had realised, "could you come to the kitchen? Professor Snape would want a word with you."

"Yeah, sure... WHAT! Snape?" Harry suddenly realised what Molly had said exactly

"Professor Snape, dear," the woman said reprovingly. "Now come on, quickly, he says he can't stay long."

"What's he want with you two?" Ron asked, looking unnerved as Mrs Weasley walk out of the room. "You haven't done anything have you?"

"No," Harry said indignantly, "and Elizabeth certainly isn't in trouble with him; you're his favourite."

"Well, I can't deny that, now can I?"

Ella felt rather satisfied hearing her brother tell everyone that she was Snape's favourite; after all, he was her favourite teacher. Still, she wondered what he was doing here. The girl had a feeling it was about hers and Harry's "possession". A few minutes later, Ella quietly walked over the threshold to the kitchen and her concerned frown turned into a large smile. She saw that Sirius, Snape and Remus were seated at the long table. The former two were glaring at each other, the silence between them heavy and filled with mutual dislike. Elizabeth always wondered why that was. A letter lay open on the table in front of Sirius.

"Remus!" the girl cheered, running over to her Godfather with open arms. "I knew you'd be here for Christmas!"

"How could I leave you alone with this rascal over there, without a chaperon?" Remus joked, indicating Sirius who let out a bark of laughter

"Good thinking, Moony," he admitted.

"No matter how touching this reunion may be, I'd appreciate it if we got to the point," said Snape disdainfully, eyeing the four others in the room. "Potter, Evans, sit down."

"Of course, sir," Liz said politely and sat down. Harry didn't.

"You know," Sirius said loudly, looking over at Harry and Elizabeth just before he leaned back on his rear chair legs and spoke to the ceiling, "I think I'd prefer it if you didn't give orders here, Snape. It's my house you see."

An angry flush washed over Snape's pallid face, but he kept his composure. Harry sat down in a chair next to Sirius, facing Snape across the table.

"I was supposed to see you two alone," he said, sneering at Sirius, "but Black-"

"I'm his Godfather, and Remus is Elizabeth's!"

"Padfoot, there's no need to get angry," Remus said calmly.

"I am here on Dumbledore's orders, but by all means stay, Black, I know you like to feel... involved."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Sirius bellowed, letting his chair fall back onto all four legs with a loud bang.

"Merely that I am sure that you must feel... frustrated by the fact that you can do nothing useful," Snape laid a delicate stress on the word, "for the Order."

It was Sirius' turn to flush. Snape's lip curled in triumph as he turned back to Harry and Elizabeth, who had been oddly quiet during the men's quarrel. Remus merely rolled his eyes at the both of them.

"Does Dumbledore want us to learn Occlumency this term?" Elizabeth asked. Everyone gazed oddly at her. "I was nearly in Ravenclaw for a reason, you know."

"Study what?" Harry said, confused. Snape's sneer became more pronounced.

"Occlumency, Potter. The magical defense of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one."

"Why do I have to study Occlu-thing?" the boy blurted out

"God, you're thick sometimes..." Liz breathed, barely above a whisper. No one seemed to have heard her.

"Because the Headmaster thinks it's a good idea," Professor Snape replied smoothly. "You will both receive private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you are doing, least of all Dolores Umbridge. Understood?"

"Yes, Professor," the girl said. "Who's going to teach us?"

Snape raised an eyebrow at the Slytherin's eagerness to begin.

"I am."


	82. Memories That Need Not Be Remembered

Harry had a sudden feeling that his insides were about to start melting and kill him. Extra lessons with Snape - what on earth had he done to deserve this? Elizabeth, on the other hand, was exited - she'd always wanted to take extra potions lessons, but Occlumency was even better; it wasn't taught to anyone else and she felt honoured, special even. The girl's brother looked over to his Godfather for support.

"Why doesn't Dumbledore teach them?" Sirius asked aggressively, seemingly forgetting that he didn't want to speak for Remus on Elizabeth's behalf. "Why you?"

"I suppose because it is the Headmaster's privilege to delegate less enjoyable tasks," Snape said silkily, gaze flickering towards Harry for a split-second. "I will expect you at six o'clock on Friday, miss Evans. My office. If anyone asks, I've awarded you those extra classes you keep talking about," the professor told his Slytherin student, who smiled. "And you on Monday, Potter. If anyone asks, you are taking extra remedial potions. Nobody who's seen you in my classes will deny that you need them."

Snape turned to leave, his black travelling coat billowing behind him, but Sirius interrupted his movements. The man turned back to face Remus, Sirius, Harry and Elizabeth, sneering.

"I'm in a hurry, Black. Unlike you, I do not have unlimited time on my hands."

"I'll get to the point then," Sirius said, standing up. Ella and Harry both noticed that he was much taller than Snape, but only the former noticed that Snape balled his fist in his robe pocket, presumably around the handle of his wand.

"Padfoot, calm down," Remus said to deaf ears

"I'm not concerned about Liz, if I hear that you're using these Occlumency lessons to give Harry a hard time you're gonna have to deal with me."

"How touching," Snape sneered. "But surely you've noticed that Potter is very like his father."

"Yes, I have," Sirius said proudly

"Well then, you'll know he's so arrogant that criticism simply bounces off him."

Sirius pushed his chair roughly aside and strode around the table towards Snape, pulling out his wand at the same time. Snape whipped out his own, which Elizabeth thought he might do. While Sirius looked positively livid, face red with anger, Snape looked calculating, his eyes darting from the tip of his wand up to his face.

"Sirius!" Harry and Remus said loudly. Ella simply looked towards her professor, startled

"I've warned you Snivellus," Sirius said, his face barely a foot from Snape's. "I don't care if Dumbledore thinks you've reformed, I know better-"

Reformed? Elizabeth thought. What does Sirius mean by reformed? Remus saw the look his Goddaughter's face and shook his head. That meant: not now, Elizabeth.

"Oh, but why don't you tell him so?" whispered Snape. "Or are you afraid he might not take the advice of a man who's been hiding inside his mother's house for six months?"

"Tell me," Sirius fumed, "how is Lucius Malfoy these days? I expect he's delighted his lapdog's working at Hogwarts, isn't he?"

Ella's brain went into overdrive.

"Speaking of dogs, did you know that Lucius Malfoy recognised you the last time you risked a little jaunt outside? Clever idea, Black, getting yourself seen on a safe station platform... gave you a cast-iron excuse not to leave your hidey-hole in the future, didn't it?"

Sirius raised his wand.

"NO!" Elizabeth yelled, vaulting over the table and trying to get in between the two before Harry could

"Sirius, don't!" Remus called, instantly worried about Liz who was now in the midst of things

"Are you calling me a coward?" Sirius roared, trying to push Elizabeth out of the way, but she wouldn't budge.

"Why, yes, I suppose I am," Snape said

"Liz - stop - protecting - him!"

"NO!" Liz bellowed, pushing both men back. "It's time for the both of you to get over your stupid boyhood quarrels and grow the fuck up! Oh, don't look at me like that, Sirius - walk away! The both of you!"

Sirius and Snape kept glaring at each other, but stopped moving and trying to push past the fifteen year old girl. They both kept their wands up for a while, staring at each other, breathing angrily, until Snape glanced down at his furious student and pocketed his wand. Sirius did the same, and Snape left, robes billowing behind him.

"That little-"

"WALK AWAY!"

And so Sirius did, followed by Harry who stared at his sister with a look she wouldn't have recognized had she seen it, instead of looking straight in front of her at nothing in particular. She stood there for a moment, fuming at the men's childishness, then sighed loudly - it sounded more like an exasperated growl - before roughly pulling out a chair and plopping down in it, head in her hands. Remus sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"You probably shouldn't have done that, but I'm glad you did," he said.

"Yeah, so am I," Liz replied. "I'm just worried how it's going to pan out with either of them after this."

"They'll be fine, trust me. Your mother used to do the same thing back when we were in school and Padfoot and James and even Severus would be beyond angry with her... but it'd be all back to normal the next day."

"I really am like my mother, aren't I, Remus?"

"Yes, and that's most definitely a great thing."

Soon, the Quartet with Fred, George and Ginny, were all back at Hogwarts after the holidays. They'd taken the Knight Bus back to Hogsmeade and walked up the slippery slope, their trunks dragging behind them. Hermione was already talking about this S.P.E.W. thing she'd created about elvish welfare and how she'd knit a few hats for the house elves at Hogwarts before she went to bed. At the staircase, Fred and George squeezed Ellie, once again thanking her for saving their dad's life and marched up the stairs with everyone else, leaving the Slytherin to march downstairs to the Dungeons instead. The Common Room was empty, since it was practically midnight, but the fire was still lit meaning that the last person to have left had done so not long ago. However she wasn't the only one awake in the Dungeons. As she walked inside, someone grabbed her from behind and threw her onto the couch. When she'd landed, Liz opened to her eyes.

"Oh, hi," she laughed

"Hi, to you too," Draco replied, smiling as he hovered over her

"How was your holiday?"

"Good. Yours?"

"Eventful."

"Good." There was a pause.

"Draco?"

"Yes?"

"This is awkward."

"I know."

Both Slytherins chuckled and Draco pulled his girlfriend up so that her head was resting on his shoulder, legs curled up underneath her. They didn't speak much and exchanged a few short kisses, as there wasn't much to say, but it was mostly since Elizabeth was avoiding talking about what had happened during the holidays and the things she'd heard. Of course she knew that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater, there was no denying that, but Sirius spoke as if Snape was currently or had been one at some point as well. Liz found that hard to believe. And there was still the question of whether Lucius had asked (more like demanded) his son to join them to prove the Malfoys' loyalty to You-Know-Who. But Ella tried not to think about things she didn't want to be true, but it was hard. Just like it was hard to forget about the fact that she had to lie some more about her Occlumency lessons with Snape.

The next morning, Elizabeth spent most of her free time with Amir since Draco was off doing Merlin knows what to some first years. Dozens of people, as they walked down the corridors, would ask her and Amir whether there was a meeting this week and she told them that there was one on the usual Wednesday night since it didn't interrupt any Quidditch practises or the siblings' "extra potions classes". They'd decided to have one this Sunday however, the day after they'd arrived, so they could practise twice this week. That's where everyone was now.

"Snape's going to teach you Occlumency?" Fred asked, deflecting a spell George shot him.

"I'm not supposed to have told you three, but yeah," the girl replied sending a red flash of light towards Amir.

"You will get to see his shining face twice as much as before," the Egyptian chuckled, deflecting the spell.

"Guys, Occlumency is very advanced magic - it's not even on the N.E. ! And who better than Professor Snape to teach me?" Liz asked, then shot another spell at Amir. "Impedimenta!" He deflected it. "Nice one. I mean, he has been asking for the DADA position for ages for a reason, right?"

"Oh, I don't know, how about Dumbledore?" George stated, sending a jet of blue light towards Fred.

"Please," Ellie snorted. "Do you really think Dumbledork would relinquish time in his 'super busy' schedule when he could ask someone else to do his dirty work?"

"You are just happy that you are finally getting supplementary classes with Professor Snape, are you not?" Amir smirked, shooting a spell at his practise partner. "Stupefy!"

"I can't deny that, now can I?" Elizabeth chuckled, wordlessly deflecting Amir's stunning spell. Fred and George stopped to stare.

"How do you do that?" they chorused.

"Practise," the girl replied, and with a silent wave of her wand had sent the Weasley twins to the ground in laughter; a successful rictusempra.

Unfortunately for Harry, his Occlumency classes began the next day and he was dreading it. Ella couldn't blame him - Snape was immensely mean to the boy - but she was dreading the four days she had to wait to get to those classes, which meant four more days to research as much as she could on the subject. However, it was already the last day of the school week and the girl was nearly giddy. Of course, Elizabeth already presented a few signs of a good Occlumens and Legilimens, but she didn't notice as it wasn't of much importance to her. Most Slytherins grew up to be great Legilimens and Occlumens, but it was more the fact that she refused to show her true emotions on a daily basis - something she just thought was normal - which said it. For those of you who don't know, Legilimency is the act of magically navigating through the many layers of a person's mind and correctly interpreting one's findings. Its opposite, which could block the invasion and influence of a Legilimens, is called Occlumency. Do not call it mind reading; people will get offended. Now, no matter how excited Elizabeth was, there was still that underlying feeling of fear. Naturally, she wouldn't be able to block out her professor on the first try, and that worried her. What if he accessed memories about her and Draco? About her nightmares? About her singing in the shower? That would be embarrassing... Of course, Snape could most likely avoid those or send them away... hopefully.

Ella got dressed in comfier clothes than her school robes, after supper, and nearly skipped down the hall to her Head of House's office. Crabbe and Goyle were just coming out, probably being scolded for being idiots, as usual. The girl chuckled and walked over the the threshold of Snape's office - the door was most likely kept open for her. She didn't see her Professor at first, since he blended in with the darkness of his office, instead she noticed Dumbledore's pensieve. She wondered what it was doing there. Snape's voice startled her out of her thoughts.

"Shut the door behind you, miss Evans."

Rose did as she was told and turned back to Professor Snape who had moved into the light and was pointing silently at the empty chair opposite his desk. Both of them sat down.

"You know why you're here, miss Evans," Snape said. "The Headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency. Hopefully, you will be as adept at it as you are in Potions."

"I'll do my best, sir," Elizabeth said quietly with a small nod.

"Now, Occlumency, as I'm sure you already know, is a branch of magic which seals the mind from magical intrusion and influence."

"And I suppose you won't tell me why Dumbledore thinks I need it?"

"The Dark Lord is highly skilled at Legilimency, miss Evans, that's why," Snape said nearly contemptuously.

"Right, Muggles call that 'mind-reading'," the girl scoffed.

"Exactly. The mind is not a book, to be opened at will and examined at leisure. Thoughts are not etched on the inside of skulls, to be perused by any invader. The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, miss Evans. It is true, however, that those who have mastered Legilimency are able, under certain conditions, to delve into the minds of their victims and to interpret their findings correctly. The Dark Lord, for instance, almost always knows when someone is lying to him. Only those skilled at Occlumency are able to shut down those feelings and memories that contradict the lie, and so can utter falsehoods in his presence without detection," Snape stated, nearly in one breath.

"Did you rehearse that, professor?" the girl smirked. So did Snape.

"Lucky for you and Potter, time and space matter greatly in magic. Eye contact is often essential to Legilimency, and I doubt the Dark Lord would walk through the doors of Hogwarts just to 'read your mind'."

"So if eye contact is necessary, and You-Know-Who won't come visit me, why is it absolutely important that I learn Occlumency right away?" Elizabeth asked, truly curious.

"The usual rules don't seem to apply to you and your brother," Snape said, gaze glancing down to Elizabeth's scar on her upper lip. "The curse that failed to kill you two seems to have forged some kind of connection between you and the Dark Lord. The evidence suggests that at times, when your mind is most relaxed and vulnerable - when you are asleep, for instance - you are sharing the Dark Lord's thoughts and emotions. The Headmaster thinks it advisable for this to continue. He wished me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord."

Elizabeth's heart was suddenly pumping fast. To her, and hopefully to Harry, none of this added up. Why did Dumbledore want her to stop seeing into You-Know-Who's thoughts and memories? Surely, in the past, it had been useful and prevented a few deaths. Without this connection, Arthur Weasley would have been dead. She voiced this to her professor. He stared at her for a few moments, and when he spoke again, it was slowly and deliberately, as if he was weighting every word.

"It appears that the Dark Lord has been unaware of his connection between Potter and yourself until very recently. Up until now it seems that you have been experiencing his emotions, and sharing his thoughts, without his being any the wiser. However, the vision you had shortly before Christmas represented such a powerful intrusion upon the Dark Lord thoughts-"

"How come I saw it through the snake's eyes if it's You-Know-Who I share a connection with?" Liz interrupted much unlike herself, but it was bothering her.

"Do not interrupt me, miss Evans," Snape said sharply.

"Sorry, professor. I just wanted to know."

"You seem to have visited the snake's mind because that was where the Dark Lord was at that particular moment. He was possessing the snake at the time you dreamed you were inside it, too."

"And He realised I was there?"

"It seems so."

"How do you know, sir?" Elizabeth questioned, curiosity getting the better of her respect and judgement. "Is this just Dumbledore guessing or-?"

"It is enough that we know," Snape answered repressively. "The important point is that the Dark Lord is now aware that you are gaining access to his thoughts and feelings. He has also deducted that the process is likely to work reverse, that is to say, he has realised that he might be able to access your thoughts and feelings in return."

"And he might try to make me do things?"

"It is likely," Snape said, a glint in his eye. Liz always noticed it when she was around. "Which brings us back to Occlumency."

Professor Snape pulled out his wand from an inside pocket in his robes and raised the wand to his temple and placed the tip into the roots of his hair. When he withdrew it, a silvery stream of light came away, stretching from temple to wand like a think strand, which broke as he pulled the wand away and it fell gracefully into the pensive. He did this a few other times, offering no explanation as to why he was doing it. He put the pensieve into its cupboard and then turn to Elizabeth, wand held at the ready.

"Stand up and take out your wand, miss Evans."

Ella got her to feet, feeling more nervous than she thought she would, considering she knew exactly what Snape was going to do, and what she had to do to counter the invasion. They faced each other with the desk in between them.

"You may use your wand to attempt to disarm me, or defend yourself in any other way you can think of," Snape said. This meant Elizabeth could jinx him if she wanted to. "I am about to attempt to break into your mind. We are going to see how well you resist. I have been told that you've already shown aptitude in doing so."

Elizabeth recalled the events of the tragedy in Little Hangleton, where You-Know-Who had tried to invaded the girl's mind, but she'd resisted after a few meaningless memories surged to the forefront of her mind; memories of her and Hermione playing together as children, mostly. The young witch nodded and took a deep breath, pointing her wand at her professor's chest, in case she couldn't resist with the mind she cherished so much.

"Ready?" the girl nodded. "Legilimens!"

Even though she was prepared to receive the blow, Liz was not prepared to endure the force of Snape's intrusion. You-Know-Who had done it more softly, probably assuming he didn't need to use that much power, but Snape knew better - he knew how talented his student really was. Immediately, thoughts began racing to the forefront of her mind. She was three, playing piano for the first time... She was sitting underneath the sorting hat, and it was telling her that he could easily put her in Ravenclaw... Draco sitting next to her at the Black Lake, a stupid grin on his face... No, said a voice inside Elizabeth's head, as the memory of her boyfriend drew nearer, you're not watching that, I will not allow it, GET OUT! Snape's office suddenly came back into view and Ella realized that she was about three feet away from where she was originally standing. The girl looked up at Snape, who had lowered his wand and was also standing back a few feet from his original spot.

"Did you mean to cast a shield charm?"

"No, I didn't," Liz said.

"Thought so," Snape said coolly. "However impressive your shield charm might have been, you let me in too far."

"Yeah, sorry. I wasn't expecting that."

"No?"

"No, when You-Know-Who used it against me I don't think He thought I'd be able to resist him - He didn't use that much force." Snape was silent for a moment.

"You were nearly a Ravenclaw?" he said, a ghost of a smirk on his lips.

"Yeah, don't remind me." Rose chuckled.

"Well, for your first attempt that was decent, considering you underestimated my attack. You need to remain focused. Repel me with your mind and you will not need to resort to your wand." Elizabeth nodded. "Now, I want you to close your eyes."

She shut her eyes immediately. Unlike Harry, who did the same thing on Monday night, she trusted Snape. Ella took a deep breath and exhaled through her nose.

"Close your mind, miss Evans," Snape said quietly. "Let go of all emotion..."

It might have been easy to her professor, but letting go of all emotion was not easy for a fifteen year old girl. Her mind kept rushing to Draco, to Amir, to her brother, to Remus who was out on another mission and may not return alive. She could hide her emotions easily, but eradicating them from her mind was a hefty task.

"You're not doing it, miss Evans... you will need more discipline than this... focus, now..."

The girl took another deep breath and exhaled through her nose. Elizabeth tried to empty her mind, tried not to think, or remember, or feel, but having her eyes closed reminded her of dreams that needed not remembering. Suddenly, Snape forced his way through her mind again. Liz saw the big grey dragon she fought the previous year... the reflection of herself in the mirror, staring at the scars she hated... Cedric Diggory laying dead on the ground, blank eyes staring at her... The office came back to her in a swirl of colours. Ella found herself on her knees, breathing heavily.

"Get up," Snape said sharply. "Get up. You aren't trying hard enough, you not making enough effort. You are allowing me to access memories you fear, handing me weapons!"

"I - am - trying," Elizabeth said through clenched teeth.

"I told you to rid yourself of emotion."

"Yeah? Well, I'm finding that a little hard at the moment, sir."

"Then you will find yourself easy prey for the Dark Lord!" Snape said savagely. "Fools who wear their hearts proudly on their sleeves, who cannot control their emotions, who wallow in sad memories and allow themselves to be provoked so easily - weak people, in other words - they stand no chance against His powers! He will penetrate your mind with absurd ease!"

"I don't wear my heart on my sleeve, I can control my emotions - I'm not my brother!" Liz yelled, then realized what she had said.

"Then prove it, Elizabeth!" Snape bellowed.

Sudden determination engulfed the girl. Whether it be because it was another rare occasion where Snape called her by her first name, or because she was tired of failing something she knew she could do, she didn't know, but clearing her mind didn't seem that difficult anymore. Just then, she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. Suddenly, it was as if she was unaware of her own heart beating. The dripping of water in the corner of the office became quiet, her breathing steadied, white noise filled her ears. When she opened her eyes, she saw Snape's mouth move but didn't hear a sound. Rose felt something scratching inside her head, but no memories came floating forwards. She kept pushing. She kept fighting back until, to her surprise, she caught a glimpse of a very young Lily Potter.


	83. An Odd Valentines Day

The Gryffindor Common Room used to be and still is home to Elizabeth Evans, despite her being a Slytherin Prefect. And like most weekend nights when Draco is out patrolling with his goons, Elizabeth could be found in Gryffindor tower with either the Weasley twins or Amir, who had also been accepted into the lion's den, or the Golden Trio. Today, she was helping Fred and George with their joke shop project, being their "product model". To Fred and George, it was crucial. To Ellie, it just meant wearing, eating and testing weird things that could most likely send her to the hospital wing if any of the items malfunctioned.

"Headless Hats!" George shouted as Fred pointed a hat decorated with a fluffy pink feather. Students were watching on excitedly. "Two Galleons each! Watch Ellie, now!"

Elizabeth, with a chuckle, swept the hat onto her head. For a second, nothing happened, except for the fact that she looked rather ridiculous. Just then, both Elizabeth's fair face and the ludicrous hat vanished, leaving nothing but emptiness above her shoulders. A few girls screamed, but most people in the Common Room simply roared with laughter.

"And off again!" George shouted, and Ella's hand groped at the air for a second, then her head and the hat reappeared in hand.

"I hate to admit it, Ellie," Fred said, "but this wouldn't be possible without you."

"Stop being so cheesy, Fred," Elizabeth laughed. "Contrary to popular belief your guys' spellwork is really good."

"Thank you, milady," George bowed as Fred collected Galleons.

Across the room, Elizabeth suddenly heard the familiar chime of the homework planners Hermione had given the boys and her for Christmas. They were awfully irritating, which made it even harder to argue against them because their ability to annoy was perfect for making Harry and Ron do their homework. Don't leave it 'til later, you big second-rater was its favourite thing to yell. Fred, George and Elizabeth's coin collecting, and cheering, soon came an end, however, when the latter unexpectedly dropped her hat full of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, and ran up to boys dormitory after her brother who looked positively out of it. No doubt the combination of Occlumency lessons with Snape, the impossibility to play Quidditch (which also bothered Elizabeth) and Umbridge breathing down their necks with the help of the Inquisitorial Squad that she'd created - a squad which Draco had joined for the simple reason that it was better being on her good side rather than her bad side (advice from one Lucius Malfoy) - was bringing Harry down immensely. To be honest, Ella was also feeling under the weather. She was experiencing the same nausea she had had the night of the snake vision, but it was far worse. She thought that Harry was most likely going through the exact same thing.

"Harry!" Liz called as her brother was opening the door to his dorm.

"Not now, Liz," Harry said almost sleepily. "I'm really not feeling well."

"Neither am I, kid."

"Oh, right, we've got the same problem."

"Yeah... Can I come in? We can agonize together?"

The boy chuckled and nodded before he opened the large heavy door to the dormitory he shared with four other boys. It was when they were both simply one foot inside it that they experienced a pain so severe they thought someone had most definitely sliced open their heads, crudely, with a dull axe. Neither of them knew where they were, whether they were standing of lying down, they couldn't even recall their own names. Then, out of nowhere, growing in intensity, maniacal laughter was ringing awfully in their ears. Both Harry and Elizabeth were happier than they had been in years: a wonderful thing had happened.

"Harry? Elizabeth?"

Someone, the same someone who had called their names, violently shook them awake. The insane laughter was interrupted by a large shriek of pain; the happiness was draining from them, but the laughter remained. As the siblings opened their eyes, they became well-aware that the laughter they'd been hearing was in fact their own. Suddenly, it died out. Harry and Elizabeth laid panting on the floor, staring up at the reflection of the window up on the ceiling, their scars throbbing horribly. Ron was bending over them, looking extremely worried.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I... dunno..." Harry gasped, sitting up again.

"He's really... really happy," Elizabeth added, staying down.

"Who?"

"Voldemort."

* * *

The very next morning, the Daily Prophet offered answers as to why You-Know-Who was so joyful the previous evening. Ten black and white moving photographs filled the entire front page; nine showed wizards, one showed a witch. Some people in the photographs were silently yelling, taunting the reader; others were tapping the their fingers on the frames of their pictures, looking insolent. Each picture was captioned with a name and the crime they'd been convicted to Azkaban with. Antonin Dolohov caught Elizabeth's eye first; he was a wizard with a long, twisted face who seemed to be sneering up at her in the same manner Lucius Malfoy would do to her, and had been sent to Azkaban prison for murdering Gideon and Fabian Prewett. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the witch and nearly gasped out of fright (she would have done it had she not been sitting between Draco and Amir at the Slytherin table, eating breakfast). She and the Egyptian gave each other a look. The woman had long, dark hair that looked unkempt and straggly in the picture, but there was no doubt she had seen it sleek, thick and shining in other pictures. The woman glared up at Liz and Amir through heavily lidded eyes, an arrogant and disdainful smile playing at her lips. Like Sirius, she retained vestiges of the great good looks of the Black family, but something - perhaps Azkaban - had taken most of the beauty away. "Bellatrix Lestrange, convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom". Amir, slightly more panicked than he'd let on, then pointed to the headline: " _MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN. MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT' FOR OLD DEATH EATERS_ ".

"There you are, Rose," Amir said. "That is why He Who Must Not Be Named was so happy last evening."

"I don't believe this!" Liz snarled. "Fudge is blaming the breakout on Sirius!?"

"Hey, what're you two whispering about?" Draco intervened, turning away from Crabbe.

"It is none of your concern, Malfoy; we are simply having a conversation without you. Is that so hard to accept?" Amir said, cocky, and dragged Elizabeth away from the table.

"Where the hell do you guys think you're going?"

"To speak with her brother and his friends."

"I'll be back in a bit, Draco."

The young Malfoy glared at the Egyptian's back, but also at his girlfriend's, who had become more and more distant with him since they'd returned from the Christmas holidays. The way she spent more and more time with this Ferran, the more he thought something was going on between them and that he, Draco Malfoy, was simply a means to an end. Thoughts kept violently swirling in his mind as he watched Amir and Ella sit down with Harry, Hermione and Ron at the Gryffindor table. Then he thought it might be something else...

"Can you believe this?" Amir said, slamming the Daily Prophet onto the table.

"I know! They're blaming Sirius for the breakout!" Harry growled.

"What other option does Fudge have, though?" Elizabeth said bitterly. "He can hardly say: 'Sorry everyone, Dumbledore warned me this might happen, the Dementors have joined You-Know-Who and now his worst supporters have broken out too. Oops.' I mean, he's spent a good six months telling everyone that Dumbledore, Harry and I are all liars, hasn't he?"

Since then, Elizabeth's scar had been prickling nearly constantly at any time of day, and she often saw flashes of Voldemort's thoughts during the day, making her stop mid sentence during a conversation with her boyfriend, or in the middle of giving an answer to Professor Snape while in potions class. She also had lurches of annoyance, anger and cheerfulness that were completely unrelated to what was happening to her at the time, which were always accompanied by painful twinges from the Slytherin's scar, and seemed to be irritating not only her, but the people who were around her at the same time. Of course, Amir, Fred, George and the Golden Trio were aware of these and didn't think much of it, but it was getting on Draco's nerves that his girlfriend would suddenly be angry and snap at him while he was telling her a joke he knew she'd laugh at. Despite her near instant apology every time it happened, it bothered the boy that she was keeping her suffering to herself. After all, he was going through a rough patch of his own.

"Ella, just talk to me!" Draco said, exasperated, as he followed the girl out of their Common Room.

"I appreciate your concern, Draco, I really do. But for the millionth time, this is something I have to deal with on my own. Besides, you know I hate talking about my feelings," Liz chuckled.

"Yeah, well, this time your feelings don't just affect you, they're affecting me too." There was a pause. "Look, I don't know what you're going through, and you'll probably never tell me, but just know that I'm worried about you and... and I just want you to be okay."

"My, who knew Draco Malfoy was such a softie," Ella smirked.

"Shut up, Evans."

With a small smile, the young Malfoy kissed his girlfriend's forehead and walked away, his tall figure disappearing into the darkness of the dungeons. The girl waited there for a moment before running off and up the stairs to the Entrance Hall. It was one of those designated Hogsmeade weekends, and for the love of her, she couldn't understand why people were freaking out. That was until she saw that today was February the fourteenth: Valentine's Day. Elizabeth cringed. Thankfully, neither she or Draco were big romantics, but he did say he had something for her despite her refusal. She wondered what it was.

Liz wrapped her coat tighter around herself and tugged on her hat as she walked out of the castle and down to the carriages that lead to Hogsmeade. Terror nearly struck her when she saw what was pulling them: Thestrals. Had they always been there? Ella stood there frozen for a moment, staring at the dark beasts before cautiously getting into an empty carriage. When she got off at Hogsmeade, the girl approached the Thestral pulling her carriage. Should I pet it, she thought, it wouldn't bite me, would it? Elizabeth thought against it, preferring to keep her hand. The girl made her way through the busy street, avoiding the couples who were clinging to each other and kissing in front of other people. She suddenly felt sad: Elizabeth couldn't do that with Draco. Soon, as requested by Hermione, she had arrived at the Three Broomsticks and shook off all the excess snow that had fallen onto her coat and whatever hair that wasn't covered by her hat. The Slytherin spotted Hermione and Luna in one of the darker corners of the pub and inn, accompanied by...

"Rita Skeeter? What the hell is she doing here!?" Ellie said angrily. This anger didn't belong to You-Know-Who, but surely he was feeling it by now.

"Liz, hi! I thought you weren't going to be here for a few hours," Hermione said. "And where's Amir?"

"Amir? A boy?" Skeeter said curiously, on the verge of taking out her usual Quick-Quotes Quill.

"Yes, a boy. He happens to be my best friend and not my boyfriend, so you can stop searching that retched handbag of yours for your stupid Quick-Quotes Quill," Liz growled, just as Harry and Amir arrived. Skeeter glared at the Slytherin witch.

"What're you guys up to?" Harry asked. "Don't ask about Cho," he added, seeing Hermione's wandering eyes.

"Little Miss Perfect was just about to tell me when you arrived," Skeeter said, taking a large sip from her drink. "I suppose I'm allowed to talk to him, am I?"

"Yes, I suppose you are," Hermione replied coldly.

"Pretty boy, isn't he, Elizabeth?" Rita's eyes flickered towards Amir.

"I swear, one more word about Liz's love life and the deal is off and that's a promise," Hermione said irritably.

"What deal?" Rita said, wiping her mouth on the back of her hand. "You haven't mentioned a deal yet, Miss Prissy, you just told me to show up here, Oh, one of these days..."

"Yes, yes, you'll write horrible stories about me and my brother," Elizabeth said indifferently. "Find someone who cares, woman. If you even are one."

"They've run plenty of horrible stories about you two this year without my help," Rita continued. "Tell me, how does that make you feel? Betrayed? Distraught? Misunderstood?"

"They feel angry of course," Amir's smooth accent said quite clearly. "Because they have told the Minister for Magic the truth and he is too much of a simpleton to believe him."

"So you actually stick to it, do you, that He Who Must Not Be Named is back? You stand by all this garbage Dumbledore's been telling everybody about You-Know-Who returning and you two being the sole eye-witnesses?"

"We weren't the sole eye-witnesses," Harry snarled. "There were a dozen-odd Death Eaters there as well. Want their names?"

"I'd love them!" Rita breathed, fumbling in her bag once again for her acid green Quill and staring at the siblings as if they were the most beautiful things on the surface of the planet. "A great bold headline: 'The Potters Accuse...' A sub-heading, 'Harry and Elizabeth Potter Name Death Eaters Still Among Us.' And then, beneath a nice big photograph of the both of you, 'Disturbed teenage survivors of You-Know-Who's attack, Harry and Elizabeth Potter, 15, caused outrage yesterday by accusing respectable and prominent members of the wizarding community of being Death Eaters...'" the Quick-Quotes Quill was actually in her hand when the rapturous expression vanished from her face. "But of course, Little Miss Perfect wouldn't want the story out there, would she?"

"As a matter of fact," Hermione said sweetly, "that's exactly what Little Miss Perfect wants."

"What!?" Liz nearly shouted.

"You want me to report what these two say about He Who Must Not Be Named?" Skeeter asked in a hushed voice.

"Yes, I do," the Gryffindor witch said. "The true story. All the facts. Exactly as Harry and Elizabeth report them. They'll give you the details, the names of the undiscovered Death Eaters they saw there, what Voldemort looks like now - oh, get a grip on yourself," she added in contempt as Skeeter jumped so badly at the name that she spilled half her glass of Firewhiskey on herself.

"The Prophet wouldn't print it. In case you haven't noticed, nobody believes this cock-and-bull story. Everyone thinks that they're delusional. Now, if you let me write the story from that angle-"

"We do not need yet another story about Elizabeth and Harry being thought of as insane," Amir said angrily. "We have had plenty of those in the past. I think Hermione is giving you the opportunity to have them tell the truth."

"There's no market for a story like that," Skeeter said coldly.

"You mean the Prophet won't print it because Fudge won't let them," Hermione said irritably.

"All right, Fudge is leaning on the Prophet, but it still comes to the same thing. They won't print a story that shows those two in a good light, because no one wants to read it. This last Azkaban breakout has got people quite worried enough. Besides, people just don't want to believe You-Know-Who is back."

"My dad thinks the Prophet is an awful paper," Luna said unexpectedly, gazing at Rita with her enormous, blue eyes. "He publishes important stories he thinks the public needs to know. He doesn't care about making money."

Rita glared at Luna.

"I'm guessing your father runs some stupid little village newsletter?"

"No," Luna said dreamily, "he's the editor of the Quibbler."

Rita snorted so loudly that a few people sitting around the group turned around in alarm.

"Important stories? I could manure my lawn with the contents of that rag," the woman admitted.

"Well, this is your chance to raise the tone of it a bit, isn't it?" Hermione said pleasantly. "Luna said her father is quite happy to take Harry's interview. That's who'll be publishing it."

"The Quibbler?" the woman cackled. "You think people will take them seriously if that's published in the Quibbler?"

"Some people won't," Hermione said in a level voice. "But the Daily Prophet's version of the Azkaban breakout had some gaping holes in it. I think a lot of people will be wondering whether there's a more complete version out there, even though it's published in a... well, unusual magazine."

"I don't suppose I have much of a choice do I?"

"Not really, I am afraid," Amir smirked.

"Okay, Liz, Harry?" Hermione began. "Ready to tell the public the truth?"

"I suppose," Harry said simply.

"Liz?"

"Sure, as long as this thing gets published properly," she said, well aware that she would be accusing her boyfriend's father.

"Fire away, then, Rita!"


	84. As Normal As It Gets

Clouds dominated the early morning sky leaving transitory patches of bright blue. Though they were mostly white there was a hint of greyness, a suggestion that rain may play a part in the day to come. Of course, no one in the Dungeons was aware of this as they were situated underneath the green tinge of the Black Lake. Its murky colour drowned the dormitories with windows looking into the depths of the lake, curious Merpeople and Grindylow peeking inside to see the sleeping children. In one of those rooms, a light rapping on the thick glass could be heard. Someone stirred. Laying down on a bed of green and silver silk sheets and dark wood was Elizabeth Rose Evans; Slytherin Prefect, ace Potions student and Girl-Who-Lived. Like a dark and mischievous halo, her long straight hair splayed itself around her head and on the pillow. Her eyes were fluttering underneath eyelids that featured dark eyelashes which fluttered on the girl's colourless cheeks. Her pale face, broken up by a few freckles that seemed to be disappearing over the years and a multitude of scars obtained through her journey, was set in a slight frown, lips threatening to force a sleepy smile. Her thin lips, contrary to her cheeks, were rosy and soft, offsetting the sharpness of her jawline. Describing her in this manner did her beauty justice, but it didn't represent the way she felt. On the inside, the girl's soft hair was matted and dry, breaking at the tips and refusing to tame itself. Her pale and colourless cheeks were red with sickness, tiredness and anger, and her calm frown was replaced by a contorted sneer as if she were continuously staring at something that disgusted her. On the outside, Elizabeth was an Angel. On the inside, she was an abyss of darkness.

A knocking on the glass woke her, eyelids fluttering open to reveal bright moss green eyes that glittered with the promise of a new day. However, their murkiness returned when she realized where she was. The joy to wake up in her dormitory at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was no longer there. Instead, it was replaced by dread of not only her classes, but the promise of You-Know-Who disrupting her quiet again. Heaving a sigh, Elizabeth lazily threw off the the silk sheets that covered her lean body and swung her long legs over the side of the bed. She ran her finger through her ebony locks, tugging at the knots that caught in her ring. A hint of relief crossed her when she looked at the calendar and saw that it was a Saturday. Still groggy, she padded over to the lavatory adjoining her dorm and took a warm shower, taking a particular pleasure in feeling herself being figuratively cleansed of all impurities that invaded her mind and spirit. Elizabeth dressed in her school robes as she was going out to patrol the grounds this morning and headed out the door and into the Common Room just as Rachel, Millicent and Daphne began to rise.

In the first few years that the girl had been at Hogwarts, everyone saw her as the Slytherin jokester. She'd always be biting the edge of a smile when she got a funny idea in her head, and it didn't help that she had Fred and George Weasley to help her with whatever came to her mind. Nowadays, the most amusement you could get out of her was just a small pouting of the lips, a narrowing of the eyes and the tilting of her head. In her arrogant triumphs, she smirked so subtly that it was near impossible to notice. Most of the time, however, her face had the emotional range of a teaspoon. There was no anger, no sadness, no joy or resentment. Elizabeth never even appeared bored when Professor Binns droned on and on in her History of Magic classes, that at least would have been something. For all the presence she brought to the room lately, she might as well have been a mannequin. The best one could say was that she was compliant, almost robotic, and didn't much argue. Her friends said it was shock, her boyfriend said it was the fear of being thought weak, for everyone else it was just another sign that something horrid was bound to happen in the near future whether it be because of You-Know-Who or herself. The emotionless state even remained when she was in her favourite classes and her extracurricular Occlumency classes with Professor Snape who didn't mention her demeanor for reasons unknown to Elizabeth and her friends.

It was only around Amir, Draco and sometimes the Weasley twins that she ever let her guard down and smiled or, in some cases, let out some anger or a few tears. Amir and her kept the D.A. secret quite well although Elizabeth could see Draco's patience wearing thin every time she had to go away from him and with the Egyptian. He'd get mad at himself first for not being more insisting with his desires and then he'd get mad at Amir for being a "manipulative prick". Despite his obvious anger towards his girlfriend (and the fact that he was sure she was hiding things from him), he never once got angry at Ella to her face. It was as if he were trying to make himself look his best in her eyes and her eyes only, trying to forget and erase the things he was going to do in the near future. Amir, on the other hand, remained the same. He still refused to let his Rose get harassed (not that she did anymore since most students were terrified of her) and clearly showed his discontent every time someone dared to push her limits. Unfortunately for them, Elizabeth was quite indifferent to receiving detentions for hexing other students. She and the Egyptian were, as usual, rarely seen apart and even always trained together for the D.A. meetings that had been getting more and more frequent due to events unfolding in Harry and hers' heads.

Most days, not unlike today, Elizabeth would walk up to the Great Hall and sit down alone at the edge of the table, away from the ones who were already seated. She'd have a cup of tea and a handful of blueberries - which consisted her only source of nourishment until lunch - and headed out into the school's corridors, head held high in pride or in contempt - no one knew for sure. The hall in front of the Room of Requirement was large and often empty, which made it the ideal place for Fred and George (or other rascals) to play illegal games of exploding snap or bully (the Twins wouldn't do that, of course) unsuspecting first years. Points were removed in either case and even more if the students protested - the ability to remove more than five points at a time, courtesy of one Lucius Malfoy. Sometimes Elizabeth went into the courtyard to see other students practise their spellwork, play a legal game of Gobstones or gossip all while checking out cute boys or girls. Umbridge, not surprisingly, was everywhere, making sure that everyone had their uniforms on correctly, wasn't displaying their romantic affection in the corridors or speaking too loudly for her liking. No one really took notice anymore; she'd practically taken over the school. No longer were the days where it was only Harry and Elizabeth who had bleeding hands after their detentions with her.

After lunch was when Draco took over the patrolling of the school grounds and one of the only times they could spent a few minutes alone together. As usual, the two would meet in the Prefects' office (a room reserved for their badges and where their meetings were held) and wait until everybody had left before nearly launching themselves at each other. Often, Draco caught her off guard, her lips suddenly locked with his, kissing him. The start of his soft touch sent a strong feeling of warmth through her system. Ella's eyes would close fearlessly, but the closure didn't allow her to see darkness for once. Instead, it created colours of fondness. Her tense nerves soon began to relax, her troubles, her pain began to melt away and the surroundings started to disappear, leaving only her and Draco. His lips felt so gentle, so warm. Her hands began to slide up his chest and encircle his neck, as the kiss grew heavy. Draco's hand slid off her face and tightened around her waist, as he continued to kiss his girlfriend. Again and again, at this same moment of this same day, Elizabeth could feel herself being pushed against the wall of the Prefects' office, Draco's body pressing against hers. The kiss went on, their lips moving in perfect sync, and becoming more passionate by the second until they flew apart, another Prefect entering the room.

It was then that Elizabeth had some time to herself. She wrote letters to Sirius and to Remus, updating them on her dreams and unordinary events occurring at school. She studied restlessly for her O. and kept searching the restricted section of the Hogwarts library for anything on her father, without any luck so far. The girl also spent this time playing her guitar, learning new songs everyday, and spending time with Aslan who seemed to be letting himself out of the castle more often than usual - she had told him to regularly check on Grawp; whether he did that or not was a mystery to the Slytherin. After dinner was when the usual D.A. meetings took place. Of course, planning meetings for the D.A. without Umbridge knowing or interrupting any Quidditch practises wasn't an easy feat, but the meetings were, as planned, held twice a week the Room of Requirement, despite the many Educational Decrees forbidding such activities. Soon, the D.A. was up to learning about the Patronus Charm. The makeshift classroom was filled from top to bottom with shouts and cries of Expecto Patronum and the silvery mist that emanated from wands when the charm was even only slightly successful. After a few weeks however, dozens of silvery animals were dancing around the room - otters, rabbits, dogs and birds were prancing above the students' heads, the sound of a calm breeze ringing in everyone's ears.

After the illegal classes were dismissed for the night, everyone headed back to their Common Rooms for the night. Elizabeth dragged her feet down the dark corridors, taking away points from students here and there (especially those who were in her way), and entered the Slytherins' dark lair. As she marched to her dormitory, she unclasped her cloak and threw it over her shoulder, unbuttoned her cardigan and kicked off her shoes so that she could throw them onto the bench in front of her bed. She slipped out of her skirt and blouse, took off her socks and corset1 while in the bathroom, and tugged on a pair of shorts and one of Draco's shirts she had stolen one of the many times she visited his room. Slowly but surely Elizabeth climbed into bed and quietly pulled the silk sheets over herself. She took her wand and muttered Nox, pointing it at the chandelier, and placed it back on her nightstand before gently placing her head on her pillow and closing her eyes. With great difficulty, the Slytherin cleared her mind and breathed in deeply, soon falling into a dreamless sleep.


	85. Locked Doors

Just like Harry, Elizabeth found it very hard to speak about the night when You-Know-Who returned. Of course, she didn't let it show unlike him. Rita Skeeter pressed the two for every single detail they could recall, and they replied with as much honesty as they could, fully knowing that this was the single chance they were going to get to reveal the truth. Elizabeth didn't much wonder about what people would think about the events that she and her brother were telling Skeeter about, and she didn't much care that it would most likely cause another Ministry outrage or more people to look at her, both wearily and contemptuously, save the people who were in the D.A and regarded her with utmost respect. Most of them couldn't wait to see how Dolores Umbridge was going to react face to face with the truth going public, but there were other who didn't care or, simply, were terrified that they'd be blamed.

Harry, of course, got his usual support from Hermione, Ron, Neville and the rest of the lot, but, sitting at the Slytherin table, Elizabeth only had Amir to reassure her that it had been the right thing to do. No matter how much he tried to do so, the girl's spirit didn't rise. Sitting on her other side, as usual, was Draco Malfoy. Every day until the story was published she sat next to him, talked to him, laughed with him, kissed him... but never once could she erase the memory of herself telling Rita Skeeter than Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater. Dread owned her, pushing against her, attempting to suffocate her. The dread of Draco finding out she accused his father had her stomach locked up tight every time she saw her boyfriend, and the happiness she felt when she was with him barely drowned it out.

Quidditch had also been problematic for the Slytherins, since they lost their star Chaser, but at least the Gryffindors were doing worse than them. Ron couldn't Keep the goal posts to save his life unless he knew no one was looking and the new beaters accidentally smashed their bats into Angelina Johnson's face. The only good thing that happened to the team, was Ginny Weasley, who managed to catch the Snitch at the very least. Elizabeth got very bored, very fast. She had had enough with studying for her O. (not that she still needed to anyway) and couldn't play Quidditch because of her lifelong ban. Of course, she could still go watch the games, but it just wasn't the same playing beside Malfoy and watching his white-blond hair flow in the wind from afar. However, she was slightly amused after watching the Gryffindors lose terribly against the Hufflepuffs. That night she had a very odd dream; she was observing, quite happily, Amir and Snape waltzing around the Great Hall together, students gathering around seemingly impressed. For some reason, Fred and George were the two-man band standing on top of the Hufflepuff table. But she woke up abruptly and sighed, opting to clear her head - as Snape requested every Occlumency lesson - instead of trying to retrieve the image of her best friend and Head of House, dancing around the castle.

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up to the sound of Aslan meowing in her ears, telling her to wake up. She rose quickly and entered the bathroom before any other girls could. She took a quick shower, dried her hair with her wand, got dressed and performed a new makeup routine before heading out the entrance and exit to the Common Room, pinning her Prefect Badge onto her chest. Amir and her entered the Great Hall at the exact same time as the post Owls, which was later than she usually went to breakfast. That was probably the reason her feline companion woke her. She sat down between her boyfriend and her best friend, having her usual handful of blueberries and tea and ignoring their protests for her to eat more; she would if she had the appetite. Draco wasn't the only one who was almost nervously waiting for his copy of the Daily Prophet: nearly everyone was eager for more news on the escaped Death Eaters who, despite many reported sightings, had not yet been captured. He gave a Knut to the delivery owl and shooed him away, opening the newspaper quite gingerly; as she had only received one or two notes this year, Ella thought the owl was mistaken when it dropped down in front of her, letter in its beak.

"Who are you after?" she asked it, removing her tea from underneath its beak and bending forward to see the recipient's name and address.

 ** _Elizabeth Evans_**

 ** _The Great Hall_**

 ** _Hogwarts School_**

Frowning, she made to take the envelope from the fowl, but suddenly, three, four, five, extra birds swooped down and were fighting for position, treading over the butter and into the jam as each one tried to give her their letter first. Liz understood at once when Amir managed to pull out a cylindrical parcel. The dread that had been rising inside her vanished immediately as she looked at Draco, apologetic and scared, then grabbed it and tore the package open. Out rolled a brand new March edition copy of the Quibbler, Elizabeth's stern face and Harry's sheepish smile staring right back at her. In big bold red letters, underneath their picture, it was written:

 **HARRY POTTER AND ELIZABETH EVANS SPEAK OUT AT LAST:**

 **THE TRUTH ABOUT HE-WHO-MUST-NOT-BE-NAMED**

 **AND THE NIGHT THEY SAW HIM RETURN**

"If this is the magazine... then all this is-?" Elizabeth said bemused, waving at the pile of letters in front of her.

"My dear, Rose... I think it is your fan-mail," Amir said with a small smile.

"Fan-mail?"

"Yes! This one is... oh. It is from a man who thinks you have gone completely mad. Never mind that one."

"This woman thinks I should try a Shock Spell course at St-Mungos," Liz sighed, throwing it behind her. It hit Crabbe on the side of the head. "Oh, but this one looks decent. Hey! She says she believes me!"

"Here is another one you have convinced, Rose!" Amir said happily. "' _Having read your side of the story, I am forced to the conclusion that the DailyProphet has treated you and your brother very unfairly... little though I want to think that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned, I am forced to accept that you are telling the truth_ '... Oh, this is wonderful, Rose!"

However it wasn't wonderful. The only good thing that came out of this for Elizabeth, was that Umbridge, as predicted, created a new Educational Decree, asserting that the Quibbler was banned from the school, thereby making the students want to read whatever was inside it; most students were convinced by the end of the week. Also, the truth was out there. Apart from those two things, nothing went right. Publicly, Draco wasn't allowed to confront Harry or Ella about the article since he wasn't supposed to have read it, but he made it quite clear that he knew what had been said to the boy, and especially, to his girlfriend, who had accused a few parents of a few Slytherin students. Quite like her, Draco's temper went from non-existent to Mount Vesuvius in a split second; once the sparks started to fly there was very little time to run for cover. She had the opportunity to not meet him at the usual time in the Prefects' office, but she refused to avoid him - that would only make things worse. Elizabeth also knew it was best for her to stay quiet until Draco was done speaking and was staring at her, expecting a complete answer to whatever nonsense he had just yelled. The girl remained stoic on the outside and broken on the inside. The threw off her robe and cardigan onto a nearby armchair, keeping quiet for now.

"Answer me," the blond bellowed, face red with fury.

"I don't want to have this conversation when you're pissed at me, Draco," Ella replied as calmly as possible, trying not to let her voice crack. "Can you at least calm down to the point where your face isn't red anymore?"

Angry eyes were just the start, then came the strut and the clipped words. Draco turned, all of a smoulder, but his attractiveness was gone. Instead, he was nearly the spitting image of his stern father, the man who raised him to be a stuck up bigot. Between his dark blond eyelashes, the pale grey eyes Ella had fallen for were no more than dirty ice.

"Fine," he said sharply, turning around and sitting down with his arms crossed. Soon, the redness in his face was reduced to a light dusting of pink. "Explain."

"I'm going to explain a few things, I'd appreciate it if you didn't interrupt me, all right?" Elizabeth asked calmly.

"Whatever."

"Last year, I didn't... I didn't want to explain what had happened completely because I was- I am scared. You brushed it off, saying that I could talk to you about it when I was ready, but the thing is I'm still-" Someone walked into the office. "GET OUT!" Liz shouted, and they obeyed. She placed a wordless locking charm on the door. "The thing is I'm still not ready."

"You can't tell me, but you can tell the whole of Britain? Yeah, sure."

"I said don't interrupt me, Draco," Ellie snapped, but regained her composure easily. "Now, you've read all this in the Quibbler, but I want you to hear it directly from me as well... Last year, at the Triwizard Tournament, instead of heading for the Cup with Cedric and my brother, I made a mad dash towards it, obviously not wanting to share the glory. However, both boys ran faster than me so we all ended up taking the Cup at the same time. Turns out the Cup was a Portkey." Draco's angry features broke for a split second, showing confusion.

"The three of us fell to the ground in a graveyard; the graveyard outside You-Know-Who's childhood home. We had barely stood up when Cedric was shot with a Killing Curse. Harry screamed, I began muttering a curse but it was interrupted when someone sent me and my brother flying up against a wall. Turns out it was that stupid Pettigrew." A look of disdain washed over the girl's face. "He performed some sort of ritual that involved his own arm, bones of You-Know-Who's father and the blood of the enemy - Harry and I. That's how I got this scar." Elizabeth rolled up her sleeve and ran her finger over the long scar Wormtail had made on her arm the previous year. "And then shit happened and You-Know-Who rose from a cauldron. He looked almost... snake-like.

"Soon, a few of his Death Eaters arrived and... And well..."

"My father was there," Draco said, calmer than Ella had anticipated he'd be.

"That's why I didn't want to talk to you about it. I mean, don't get me wrong I really don't like your dad, but I never thought... And, at the time, what was going through my mind was: 'Does Narcissa know? Does Draco know? Did You-Know-Who try and have Draco join-"

"No!" Draco said quickly. "No... I haven't joined Him."

"Oh, thank Merlin," Liz said, head falling into her hands.

"But I did know about my father..." the girl's head shot up. "I guess there were things that I'd been hiding from you too."

"Yeah... Look, Draco, I'm-"

It was all back to normal. Just like every single meeting here, Draco's lips unexpectedly found hers. Why he could not stay mad at her, Ella didn't understand and neither did Draco. The only thing that was different this time was the locked door to the Prefects' office. Once again, the boy's soft touch sent a strong feeling of warmth throughout the girl's entire body. Her eyes closed fearlessly, even though the thought of the locked door was deleted from her mind. Her anger, her sadness and her nerves began to melt away, leaving only her and Draco in the empty room.

There weren't many thoughts that crossed her mind a that moment, but one of them was very prominent: his lips were so soft and warm. Her hands slid over his button-up shirt and up his chest to encircle his neck. As the kiss grew heavy, the young Malfoy's hands slid down and tightened around her small waist. Suddenly, she felt herself being pushed against the wall, Draco's body pressing against hers. Last time, this is where it ended, since one of the Ravenclaw Prefects had entered the room. But the door was locked this time, so the kiss went on, their lips moving in perfect sync, and the kiss becoming more passionate by the second.

Their lips parted for a second and clasped onto one another again with an adding more more pressure. Draco's hand slid smoothly onto her arm, lifting it and pinning it against the wall. His kiss grew more greedy, their lips locking tighter. The heat flowing through Ella's body began to grow as she felt his other hand run over her jaw and down to her neck, where he pulled off her tie and threw it aside. The girl then felt his fingers run over the buttons of her blouse, slowly unhooking the first few. Her shirt began to hang loosely, her corset beginning to show. Reluctantly, Elizabeth removed her lips from Draco, leaning frailly against the wall. Her moss green eyes leisurely began to open, eyelids relaxed as she slowly sucked in the cool air. The young Malfoy stared back at her, grey eyes calm. He rested his forehead upon hers and Liz's hand slipped back onto Draco's chest. Her breath was slow.

"I love you," she murmured.

"To the moon and back," he added, before their lips captured once more before letting go.


	86. Severus Snape

As predicted by Elizabeth herself, the girl received yet another 'O' in her potions exam, and another in every other test she had the following week, save History of Magic where she got an 'E'. Her happiness about her grades soon wore out however when she heard about Harry's dream about Rookwood, Avery and You-Know-Who. The only good thing that the Slytherin could think of at that moment, is that she was doing better in her Occlumency lessons than Harry, since she had not had any dreams of any kind, save occasional odd one. She tried to push the information out of the back of her mind, but the back of her mind wasn't the best place for that information to be pushed right now.

"Try again, miss Evans."

A few weeks after Harry, Ron and Hermione had told Elizabeth and Amir about her brother's dream, Liz was yet again in the depths of the castle's dungeons: Severus Snape's office. Once again, she was trying to clear her head, something she'd been able to do before going to sleep, but it was a completely different task when someone was trying to break into your thoughts and memories. So far, she'd been forced to relive a few early memories of herself concerning a few childhood humiliations and her first year at Hogwarts. They were all insignificant, but the fact that they were reached wasn't.

"What was that last memory?" Snape asked.

"The one where I'm playing guitar by the Black Lake?" Elizabeth asked, finding it hard to pinpoint the last memory Snape saw from the rush of images that flew past her own eyes.

"No," the Professor said softly, "the one where your brother is talking to you, his expression quite panicked. It seems recent."

"Oh, uh, Harry was telling me about a dream he had had the previous night."

"About?"

"Him." Snape's nostrils flared ever-so-slightly.

"How many dreams about the Dark Lord has your brother had?" Snape asked stiffly.

"Just the one, as far as I know," Ella replied.

"And you haven't had any?"

"No. I've been successful at clearing my mind before falling asleep, so the only dreams I have concern flying monkeys and waltzing professors," the girl chuckled. Her professor raised an eyebrow. "Never mind, it's not important. I'm ready to try again."

"Very well." Snape raised his wand. "One - two - three - Legilimens!"

Suddenly, she was back in her first year. Harry was standing beside her, face all beaten up scratched, her own body and clothes in the same condition. There was a table in front of her. Instantly, she recognised Snape's challenge, one of the many obstacles guarding the Philosopher's stone. This time however, the table and its bottles, Harry and her weren't the only things in the room. Liz screwed up her face in concentration. She was moving forward. She saw the potions bottles, yet she also say her professor standing behind them and somehow the bottles were beginning to fade as the image of Severus Snape began to grow clearer.

Elizabeth raised her own wand and shouted "Protego". Snape staggered and his wand flew upwards, away from her. Just then, the girl's mind was flooded with memories that weren't her own: a hook-nose man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner... a greasy-haired teenager sat alone in a dark bedroom, pointing his wand at the ceiling and shooting down flies... a girl laughing as a scrawny boy tried to mount a bucking broomstick-

"Enough."

Ella felt as though she had been pushed hard in the chest and stumbled backwards quite a few steps and felt her wrist being grasped. When the girl opened her eyes, she saw Snape shaking slightly, hand wrapped around her wrist as to not let her fall back into one of his shelves. He silently let go went Liz had gotten her footing.

"Well... that was certainly an improvement," the Professor said, panting slightly. "I don't remember telling you to use a shield charm, but there's no doubt that it's effective."

Elizabeth didn't speak. Instead, she was trying to analyze what she had just seen. She'd infiltrated her Head of House's mind without his consent, that was certain. But was the small dark-haired boy in these memories him, or someone he knew? The man and woman - were they his parents? Liz was quickly brought out of her thoughts.

"Let's try again, shall we?" Snape said.

The Slytherin witch felt a thrill of dread. What if she succeeded again and fell into deeper memories that weren't meant to me found? What if she stumbled upon a memory that he wanted no one to see? But then she thought that, if by some miracle she managed to delve into his memories again, she might be able to see something about her mother. Maybe Elizabeth would find something on her father as well? However, the "extra potions class" was interrupted by a head of very familiar blond hair.

"Professor Snape- oh, uh, sorry," Draco apologised.

"It's all right, Mr. Malfoy," Snape said. "Miss Evans is here for her extra potions class."

"Right, yeah, you told me about those," the boy said to Ella.

"Well, what is it?"

"It's Professor Umbridge, sir - she needs your help. They've found Montague, sir, he's turned up jammed inside a toilet on the fourth floor." Elizabeth had to suppress a smile, knowing full-well that it was Fred and George who were responsible for that (they had shoved Montague in a Vanishing Cabinet after he tried to take away points from them).

"How'd he get in there?" Snape demanded.

"I don't know, sir, he's a bit confused at the moment," Draco replied.

"Very well, very well. Miss Evans," Snape began, "we shall resume this lesson tomorrow evening."

Professor Snape turned on his heel and swept away from his office. Malfoy gave his girlfriend a small smile before following the dark man. Disappointed, Elizabeth replaced her wand inside her robes and made to leave the room as well, but as she got to the door, she saw it: a patch of shivering light dancing on the doorframe. She stopped and looked at it, then turned around to see that it coming from the Pensieve sitting on Snape's desk. What is it doing out of the cabinet, Liz thought. Curiosity swelled inside her. Could there be any information about her mother or her father, any at all? The girl looked over her shoulder. How long would it take for Snape to release Montague from the toilet? Would he come straight back, or would he accompany the boy to the hospital wing? Surely the latter, Ella tought, he's the captain of the Quidditch team. The Slytherin witch took the remaining steps towards the Pensieve and stood over it, gazing into its depths. No, she reconsidered, this is betraying his trust... but if I'm fast enough-

Elizabeth prodded the Pensieve with the tip of her dark wand and its contents immediately began swirling faster and faster. The student leaned forward and once again, it was as if she was looking down into a room through a circular window in the ceiling. In fact, if the girl wasn't mistaken - which she rarely was - she was looking down into the Great Hall. Then, she plunged into the swirling pool of Snape's thoughts and landed in the Great Hall.

The four house tables were gone. Instead, there were more than a hundred smaller tables, all facing the same way, at which each sat a student with his or her head bent low and scribbling on parchment. It was clearly exam time. Sunshine was streaming through the high windows onto the bent heads, which shone chestnut, copper and gold in the rays of sunlight. Professor Snape had to be here somewhere... this was his memory after all. And there he was, at a table right behind Elizabeth. The girl couldn't help but stare. Snape-the-teenager looked nearly exactly the same: thin, tall and pale, with jet-black hair set in curtains on either side of his face and his nose barely an inch away from the surface of his parchment. Elizabeth moved around and crouched down beside him, reading the heading of the examination paper: DEFENSE AGAINST THE DARK ARTS - ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL. Liz smiled. Snape had to be about the same age as her. His hand was flying across the parchment; he had written at least a foot more than everyone else and yet he was still trying to cram more into his essay.

"Five more minutes!" cried a voice that made Elizabeth jump.

The voice belonged to a younger version of Professor Filius Flitwick, who looked just as excited and happy as ever. He was walking past a boy with very untidy black hair. Ella's eyes grew wide and she moved quickly towards the boy, not caring if she made an insane amount of sound - no one could hear her anyway. Sure enough, she was standing in front of a fifteen year-old James Potter. He looked exactly like Harry, save the scar on his forehead and the green eyes. Suddenly, the boy yawned loudly, ruffling his hair so it was even more untidy than before. With a glance towards Flitwick, he turned in his seat and grinned at a boy sitting four seats behind him. With another shock of excitement, Elizabeth saw a young Sirius Black give James a thumbs-up. Sirius was lounging in his chair, quite at ease, tilting it back on two legs. Liz had to admit that he was very good-looking; his dark hair fell into his eyes with a sort of casual elegance James could never have achieved, and a girl sitting behind him was eyeing him hopefully, though he didn't seem to have noticed. And two seats along from the girl - Ella's stomach gave another pleasurable squirm - was Remus Lupin, her Godfather. He looked rather pale (was the full moon approaching?) and was absorbed in the exam: as he reread his answers, he scratched his chin with the end of his quill, frowning slightly. The Slytherin witch smiled fondly: he still did that today.

The girl thought for a second. If Snape, James, Sirius and Remus were here, did that mean that Pettigrew was here as well? Sure enough, the girl spotted him too: a small mousy-haired boy with a pointed nose. He looked very anxious; he was chewing his fingernails, staring down at his paper and scuffing the floor with his dirty shoes. Every now and then he glanced hopefully and discretely at his neighbours' paper. Liz looked back at James, to whom she was closest to. He had doodled a Snitch on a scrap piece of parchment and had scribbled down the letters "L.E.". What could that mean, Liz thought.

"Quills down, please!" Flitwick squeaked. "That means you too Stebbins! Please remain seated while I collect your parchment! Accio!" The parchments flew over to him and knocked him over. A few students came to his aid. "Thank you... Very well, you're all free to go!"

Elizabeth looked over at Remus, who grabbed his book bag and stood, waiting for Sirius and James to join him. She looked around and glimpsed her potions master a short way ahead, moving between the tables and towards the doors of the Entrance Hall. Round-shouldered yet angular, he walked in a twitchy manner that recalled a spider, not at all like the way he strode gracefully around the castle corridors today. A gang of loud girls separated Snape from James, Sirius and Remus, so she planted herself there as to manage to keep an eye on Snape while listening to the Marauders' conversation. Pettigrew soon joined the group.

"Did you like question ten, Moony?" Sirius asked as they got to the Entrance Hall.

"Loved it," he replied briskly. "'Give five signs that identify the Werewolf'. Excellent question."

"D'you think you managed to get all the signs?" James asked in mock concern.

"Think I did. One: he's sitting on my chair. Two: he's wearing my clothes. Three: his name's Remus Lupin."

Pettigrew was the only one who didn't laugh. Even Elizabeth managed a small chuckle.

"I got the snout shape, the pupils of the eyes and the tufted tail," Wormtail said anxiously, "but I couldn't think what else-"

"How thick are you, Wormtail?" James said impatiently. "You run around with a Werewolf once a month-"

"Keep your voice down," Remus interrupted.

"Well, I thought that paper was a piece of cake," Sirius said. Elizabeth glanced over at Snape who was fixated on a book. "I'll be surprised if I don't get an 'Outstanding' on it, at least."

"Me too," James added. He put his hand in his pocket and took out a struggling Golden Snitch.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Nicked it."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but smiled. It seemed very like the famous James Potter to have stolen something like that. It was also something Harry would do. Why he took a Snitch was beyond her, however. Didn't he play Chaser, she thought. Liz noticed Pettigrew staring at him in awe. Soon, the boys stopped at the same beech tree that Elizabeth usually played guitar - the very same tree where she had had her first kiss with Draco. James, Sirius, Remus and Wormtail all slumped down into the grass underneath the shade of the beech tree. Ella looked to her left and noticed Snape sitting nearby, in the shadow of a clump of bushes; he was still immersed in whatever book he was reading. Unsurprisingly, Remus took out a book as well and began reading, leaning against the tree. Sirius stared around at the students milling over the grass, looking rather bored, but very handsomely so. James was still playing with his Snitch, letting it zoom further and further away, almost escaping but always snatching it at the last second. Wormtail smiled and applauded every time he made a catch. This made Elizabeth want to slap him. Instead of attempting to slap something she couldn't touch, she sat beside her Godfather and read along with him.

"Put that away, will you," Sirius said finally, as James made a fine catch and Pettigrew let out a cheer, "before Wormtail wets himself with excitement."

"If it bothers you," James said, stuffing the Snitch back into his pocket. Elizabeth had the impression that James Potter would only stop showing off for Sirius Black.

"I'm bored," Black groaned. "Wish it was full moon."

"You might," Lupin said darkly from behind the book he and Liz were reading. "We've still got Transfiguration. If you're bored you could quiz me." He held out his book, but Sirius snorted.

"I don't need to look at that rubbish, I know it all."

"This'll liven you up, Padfoot," James said quietly. "Look who it is..."

Sirius' head turned and he suddenly became very still, like a dog that had scented a rabbit.

"Excellent," he said softly. "Snivellus."

Elizabeth looked up from Remus' book to see what James and Sirius were talking about. Snape was on his feet again, stowing his book into his bag. As he left the shadow of bushes that he was sitting beside and set off across the grass. James and Sirius stood up. Lupin and Wormtail remained sitting: Remus was still staring down at the pages of his Transfiguration book and Pettigrew was looking from Sirius and James to Snape with a look of avid anticipation on his face. If Wormtail is excited, this can't be good, Liz thought, mind you, he did seem pretty entertained by James playing with his Snitch. However, Elizabeth had a feeling she wasn't going to like this and so, she rose as well.

"All right, Snivellus?" James said loudly.

Severus Snape reacted so fast it was as if he had been expecting an attack; he dropped his bag, plunged his hand inside his robes and had his wand halfway in the air before James shouted "Expelliarmus". Snape's wand flew twelve feet in the air and fell with a small thud in the grass behind him. Sirius let out a bark of laughter.

"Impedimenta," he said, pointing his wand at Snape, who was knocked off his feet halfway through a dive towards his own wand.

Students all around had turned to watch. Some had got to their feet and were edging nearer. Some looked apprehensive, other entertained. Elizabeth, however, was appalled. She expected no less from Wormtail, but she expected a lot more from Sirius and James, who seemed to be upstanding men until now. But Snape had been right all along: James and Sirius were bullies. Liz ran in between James and Sirius, and Snape who now lay panting on the ground, forgetting that she couldn't block anything.

"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" James asked. Ella glared at him.

"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," Sirius added. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."

Several people laughed; Snape was clearly unpopular - that still hadn't changed. Elizabeth sent a few choice words and phrases towards the two Gryffindors, and begged for Remus to stand up and do something, but it dawned on her that she was in a memory... she couldn't do anything. Snape was trying to get up at this point, but the jinx was still operating on him; he was struggling to break free from the invisible bounds of the spell.

"You - wait," he panted, staring up at James with a look of pure loathing, "you - wait."

"Wait for what?" Sirius said coolly. "What;re you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Snape let out a string of mixed swear words and hexes, but with his wand ten feet away, nothing happened.

"Wash out your mouth," James said coldly. "Scourgify!"

Pink soap bubbles steamed from Snape's mouth at once, the froth covering his lips and making him gag, choking him. Elizabeth screamed at once, her voice echoing over another. She turned to look. Thick red hair, startling green eyes... Lily Evans.

"Mum?" Liz said quietly, staring at the fifteen year old girl in front of her.

"Leave him ALONE!"

"All right, Evans?" James said, his free hand jumping to his hair; his voice was suddenly deeper, more mature.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated, looking at James with great dislike. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," he said, faking hard thought, "it's more the fact he exists, if you know what I mean."

Many of the surrounding people laughed, Sirius and Wormtail included, but Remus, still intent on his book, didn't, nor did Lily and her daughter.

"You think you're so funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying, toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

"I will if you go on a date with me, Evans," James said quickly. "Go on... go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Behind them, the Impediment Jinx was wearing off and Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out pink soapsuds as he crawled.

"I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the Giant Squid," Lily said.

"Bad luck, Prongs," Sirius said briskly, and turned back to Snape. "OI!"

It was too late. Snape had directed his wand straight at James. There was a familiar flash of light and a large gash appeared on the side of James' face, spattering his robes with blood. Elizabeth recognized that spell... Snape had taught it to her the previous year: it was Sectumsempra. James whirled around and a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants. Many people in the crowd cheered. Sirius, James and Wormtail roared with laughter. Elizabeth stood there fuming, wishing she herself could finish Snape's slashing curse on James Potter.

"Let him down!" Lily said, her expression now furious.

"Certainly," James said.

He jerked his wand upwards and Snape fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Elizabeth was just about to run over when Snape's movements were interrupted by Sirius who shouted "Petrificus Totalus" at him. Snape then kneeled over again and went stiff as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted, her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it wearily.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," James said earnestly.

"Take the curse off him then!"

James sighed deeply, turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse.

"There you go," he said as Snape struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was there, Snivellus-"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

A painful twang appeared in Liz's chest. Just then, the expression on Snape's face turn from rage into shock. So did Ella's and Lily's. Had he really just said that... after all she had done for him? Lily simply blinked. Elizabeth's gaze went from Lily to Snape, who, to Elizabeth (although she might have just wanted to see it that way) looked as if he regretted the words that had just come out of his mouth. James and Sirius were livid.

"Fine," Lily said coolly. "I won't bother in the future. And I'd wash your trousers if I were you, Snivellus."

Another painful twang. Lily had just turned on him, for a simple slip of the tongue?

"Apologise to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.

"I don't want you to make him apologise," Lily shouted. "You're just as bad as he is!"

"What?" James yelped. "I'd NEVER call you a - you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just gotten off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch of yours, walking down corridors and hexing people who annoy you just because you can - I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head of yours on it. You make me SICK!"

Suddenly, her professor's office spun back into view, the sight of Lily running off now receding. She floated up through icy blackness and landed in the present-day candle-lit office of Professor Severus Snape. Panicked she grabbed her bag and walked away from the Pensieve. She saw that her Professor hadn't returned yet. Liz let out a nervous breath, but it soon came back when she heard foot steps down the hall. Quickly, the girl put a silencing charm on one of the jars lining the walls and quietly smashed it to the ground. When Snape entered his office, he found his favourite student repairing a jar with her wand and setting it back in it's place.

"What are you still doing here?" Snape questioned, eyeing her suspiciously.

"I knocked over some jars while I was swinging my bag onto my shoulder. I just repaired the last one," Elizabeth lied swiftly. She'd been getting better at it.

"Thank you, Miss Evans. You may go to your dormitory now."

"Good night, Professor."

"Good night, Miss Evans."


	87. Elizabeth's Wonderful Spellwork

The memory had been flashing inside Elizabeth's head constantly ever since she ran out of Snape's office. It was as if it were eating her up inside. She couldn't talk to anyone about this because she wasn't supposed to have seen it, and the only person whom she would have talked about it to was her brother, but she couldn't possibly tell him that his idol was a self-entitled prick and that his Godfather was as well, albeit a little less horrible than James. Liz couldn't deny however that even though he wasn't active in the bullying, Remus had done nothing to stop it. Was he just as bad as them, or did he just pick his battles with those two? The girl sighed, and paused in the middle of the sentence she was writing for her Transfiguration homework. She had never doubted that Snape hated James and Sirius and Remus for a reason, but she never thought that it would have been that bad of a reason. Everyone had told her that James was a wonderful person, but seeing this? Could she even trust those people's opinions anymore?

Elizabeth remembered overhearing Professor McGonagall say that James Potter and Sirius Black had been troublemakers at school, but she described them as forerunners of the Weasley twins. Ellie shook her head and frowned; she couldn't imagine Fred and George dangling someone upside-down for the fun of it (that seemed more like something she would do), not unless they really loathed them or if they really deserved it. The Slytherin knew that Snape hadn't deserved those hexes and even Lily, her mother, thought the same: 'What's he done to you?'. James' reply? Typical Gryffindor, Liz thought angrily, dropping her quill onto the table. 'It's more the fact he exists, if you know what I mean'. No, I don't know what you mean, Potter, Elizabeth mentally growled. At least Lily had intervened; she had been decent. Yet, how could she loathe someone that much and end up marrying them? Maybe that's why she had me with someone else, Liz pondered.

Meanwhile, as the teachers and Hermione kept on reminding her, Harry, Ron and Amir (because he had somehow become part of the 'Golden Quartet' which now should be called the 'Golden Quintet') that the O.W.L.s were drawing nearer and nearer. All the fifth years, save Hermione and Elizabeth, were suffering from stress to some degree, but Hannah Abbott was the first to receive a Calming Draught from Madam Pomfrey after she burst into tears during Herbology and cried about being too stupid to take exams and wanted to leave school now. If it had not been for the D.A. lessons, Harry would have probably been in the same condition according to his sister. Both of them were enjoying themselves there, swelling with pride as they looked around at their students, able to forget all the other drama going on in the school.

It was their fourth class working on Patronuses today. Everybody had been keen to practise them though Ella kept reminding them that producing a Patronus in the middle of a brightly lit classroom and not under threat was very different from producing one when under attack by hundreds of Dementors. Every start of class, Harry and Elizabeth demonstrated theirs for the class. They thought of their happiest memory, something that was getting harder and harder to find further along the year they were, and swirled their wands over their heads, muttering Expecto Patronum. Moments later, a doe and a stag were prancing around the room together in a silvery-blue haze.

It was currently their last class before Easter and so far, quite a few people had managed to produce their own Patronuses. Cho Chang smiled brightly as her swan-shaped Patronus soared around the room, Hermione beamed at the sight of a silvery-blue otter floating above her head and Luna was dancing around the room with her hare-shaped Patronus. Ginny laughed in amazement when a horse flew out of the tip of her wand and began galloping around the room of requirement and even Ron had managed to produce a small silvery haze in the shape of a Jack Russel Terrier.

Trying to help Fred and George produce a Patronus, Liz didn't notice the door to the Room of Requirement open and shut. It also took her a while to realise that quite a few students had gone silent, the twins' voices and laughter compensating quite enough for the lack of voices. The next thing she knew, something was tugging at the end of her shirt. She looked down and called to Harry: Dobby was there, peering at her from underneath eight of Hermione's woolly hats.

"Dobby? What's wrong," Elizabeth asked, looking at the terror-stricken house elf.

"Elizabeth Evans, miss... Harry Potter, sir..." the elf squeaked, "Dobby has come to warn you... but the house elf has been warned not to tell..."

"What's happened Dobby," Harry asked, prying the elf away from the wall he was banging his head on.

"She... she..."

Elizabeth's eyes went wide with fear and she immediately looked towards her brother, who seemed to be deep in thought about this "she".

"Is she coming," the Slytherin asked, panicked, a state in which no one in the D.A. thought she could be in. The house elf nodded vigorously. The girl looked up at the terrified students. "UMBRIDGE ALERT! RUN!"

All the students pelted towards the exit, forming a large scum at the door, then people burst through. Elizabeth could hear them sprinting across the corridor as she grabbed people by any part of their clothes and pushed them towards the exit, and she hoped that they had the sense not to make it all the way to their dormitories. It was only ten to nine, so if they took refuge in the library or even in the Owlery, which were both nearer, they be fine.

"Harry, Liz, come on!" Hermione shrieked from the center of the knot at the door, people still fighting to get out.

Harry scooped up Dobby, who was still attempting to do himself harm, and ran with the elf in his arms to join the group. He told the house elf to run back to the kitchens and to keep quiet no matter what. Dobby thanked him and he disappeared at once. Elizabeth, as she ran towards the door, thought how amused she'd be when she laid eyes on the person who betrayed them; her jinx had definitely hit the traitor. Hermione, Ron, Amir and the rest ran straight ahead with the others. Harry broke into a mad dash towards the right and Elizabeth went to the left towards the library. Walking around as calmly as she could in that moment, Elizabeth made her way towards the library, but she had the distinct feeling she was being followed. Suddenly, she heard a sound she didn't like but didn't react fast enough - she was hit in the shoulder with a jinx that made her flip onto her back.

"Trip jinx, Potter," Pansy Parkinson sneered, leering over her. "Hey, Montague! I've found your precious little Chaser."

"Good," Montague said coming out of the shadows. "Professor Umbridge will be pleased."

"Why? I'm just walking here you ignorant toads," Elizabeth said sharply, feigning innocence.

"Shut up and walk, Potter," Montague snapped, roughly grabbing her by the arm. "Parkinson, go find some others. Check the library and the bathrooms." Pansy nodded and left. "Come on."

"Hey, you can't manhandle me like this, Montague. I'm a Prefect!" Liz stated angrily.

"And I'm part of the Inquisitorial Squad, which gives me superior powers than you."

Elizabeth didn't say anything; there was no point. As thick as Graham Montague was, he was right about the Inquisitorial Squad (Draco often boasted about it). Instead, the girl kept quiet and didn't resist as she was brought to Professor Umbridge.

"Thank you, Graham," she said sweetly. "Now, you hop along and see if you can find any others." Montague left. "And you - you can come with me to the Headmaster's office... your brother's already there."

They were at the stone gargoyle within seconds. Elizabeth didn't even think about how many others had been caught, she was just worried about her own skin at the moment. Even her brother's safety barely crossed her mind. However, she did wonder if she'd be expelled and her dreams of pursuing potions shot dead. As Umbridge uttered the password and the statue sprang to life, Liz was reminded of Snape's instructions. Clear your mind, she thought. And so she closed her eyes and breathed in and out in a soothing manner, trying to rid herself of emotion. This made Umbridge mad as her calming process made if hard for the professor to drag her around.

At the door, Umbridge didn't even bother to knock and just strode in. Liz slowly opened her eyes and saw Harry - she didn't smile or attempt to talk to him however. Instead, she subtly glanced at the many people in the room: Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, expression quite serene (like Elizabeth's), and the tips of his fingers pressed together; Professors McGonagall and Snape stood rigidly on either side of him; Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, was rocking back and forth on his toes beside the fire, seemingly pleased; Kingsley Shacklebolt and another wizard were positioned on either side of the Minister; Percy Weasley, freckled and bespectacled, hovered excitedly beside the wall, quill poised to take notes.

The portraits weren't even faking sleep tonight, as they were all alert and serious and watching what was happening below them. As Elizabeth entered, all eyes were on her and a few of the portraits began whispering amongst themselves. She calmly pulled herself free from Umbridge's grasp as the door swung behind them and clasped her hands together behind her back. Cornelius Fudge frowned for a split-second at her demeanor, but his viciously satisfied smile soon returned to his face.

"Well, well, well," he said looking between both siblings. Harry gave him the dirtiest look he could muster.

"She was heading to the library," Umbridge said, an indecent excitement in her voice. "Miss Parkinson cornered her."

"She did, did she?" Fudge said appreciatively. "Perseus1 would be proud. Well, Granger... I expect you know why your here?"

It seemed that Harry was already questioned; she had to match up his answers. Elizabeth rapidly glanced at Dumbledore who wasn't looking at her, then at Snape who was keeping his regular composure. However, she remembered the conversation they had had about Umbridge a few months prior. The girl's answer came out sharp and clear.

"No."

"I beg your pardon," Fudge said incredulously.

"Unless I'm speaking in a foreign tongue Minister, I expect you heard me when I said 'no'," Elizabeth said flatly. "I have no clue why I was brought here."

"You don't know why you are here?"

"No. All I know is that I'm walking towards the library and I get jinxed by Pansy Parkinson. You know what? I'd like to make a complaint, if I could."

Fudge looked baffled from Elizabeth to Harry to Umbridge. Liz took advantage of the moment to steal another glance at her Head of House, who gave her the tiniest of nods and the shadow of a smirk of approval. Even McGonagall cracked a small smile.

"So you have no idea," the Minister continued in a voice sagging with sarcasm, "why Professor Umbridge has brought you in this office? You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?"

"School rules," Elizabeth said, bemused. "No."

"Or Ministry Decrees?"

"Not that I am aware of."

Elizabeth could see a vein pulsating on the Minister's forehead. It was almost worth it telling these lies just to watch Fudge's blood pressure rising, but it was still a risk considering someone did in fact tip Umbridge off about the meetings.

"So it's news to you, is it," Fudge said, "that an illegal student organisation has been discovered withing this school?"

"Yes, it is," Elizabeth said, frowning and feigning confusion.

"I think, Minister," Umbridge said silkily, "we might make better progress if I fetch our informant."

"Yes, yes, please do. There's nothing like a good witness, is there, Dumbledore?"

"Nothing at all Cornelius," Dumbledore replied gravely.

There was a wait of several minutes, in which no one looked at each other, then the door opened behind the siblings and in came Umbridge gripping Marietta Edgecombe, Cho's curly-haired friend, by the shoulders. She was hiding her face in her hands and Elizabeth knew why; her hex had worked.

"Don't be scared, dear," Umbridge said "it's quite all right. You have done the right thing. The Minister is quite pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been."

"Of course, of course!" the Minister said jovially. "Well, now, come on, dear... Look up, don't be shy; let's hear what you've got to - galloping gargoyles!"

As Marietta raised her head, Fudge leapt backwards in shock, nearly landing himself in the fireplace. Even Harry jumped back a few paces at the sight of the girl's face. She gave a small wail and pulled the neck of her robes right up to her face, but not before everyone had seen that it was horribly disfigured with a series of close-set purple pustules that had spread across her nose and cheeks to form the word 'SNEAK'. If Umbridge hadn't said that the girl was Marietta Edgecombe, nobody would have been able to recognize her.

"For goodness sake, don't we have the counter-curse for this?" the Minister asked impatiently.

"I have not yet managed to find one," Umbridge said begrudgingly. "The curse is highly advanced, leading me to believe that only a professor could have done it - a student's capabilities aren't this great."

A ghost of a proud smirk washed over Elizabeth's face and she caught Harry glancing in her direction, slightly terrified at his sister's spellwork.

"But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, Minister, I can take up the story from here," Umbridge said. "You will remember Minister that I sent you a report back in October that Potter and Evans had met a number of students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade-"

"And what is your evidence of that?" McGonagall cut in.

"I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time," Umbridge replied. "He heard every word these two said and hastened straight up to the school to report to me-"

"Oh, so that's why he wasn't prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets! What an interesting insight into our justice system!"

"Blatant corruption!" one of the portraits agreed.

"Thank you, Fortescue, that will do," Dumbledore said softly.

"The purpose of Potter and Evans' meetings with these students," Umbridge continued, ignoring what had just happened, "was to persuade them to join an illegal society, whose aim was to learn spells and curses the Ministry has decided are inappropriate for school age-"

"I think you'll find you're wrong there, Dolores," Dumbledore said quietly, peering over his half-moon spectacles.

Elizabeth looked over at the man. If there had been testimony from this... Willy Widdershins, surely even Dumbledore himself wouldn't be able to talk them out of this one. Then again, Dumbledore was full of surprises.

"Oho!" Fudge exclaimed, still bouncing on his toes. "Yes, let's do hear the latest cock-and-bull story designed to pull Potter and Granger out of trouble!" Elizabeth's jaw clenched at the use of 'Granger'. "Go on then, Dumbledore, go on - Willy Widdershins was lying was he? Or was it Potter and Granger's identical twins in the Hog's Head that day? Or is it the usual simple explanation involving reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life and a couple of Dementors?"

Percy Weasley let out a hearty laugh. Elizabeth's head immediately turned towards him and she glared. The Slytherin could have kicked him now, and she should have kicked him back when he was still at Hogwarts. However, Dumbledore was smiling. I'll never understand this man, she thought.

"Cornelius, I do not deny, nor, I'm sure, does Harry or Elizabeth, that they were in the Hog's Head the day in question, or that they were trying to recruit students to their own Defense Against the Dark Arts group. I am simply saying that Dolores is wrong to suggest that such a group was, at the time in question, illegal," Dumbledore stated. "If you remember, the Ministry Decree banning all student organizations was not put into effect until two days after Harry and Elizabeth's Hogsmeade meeting, so they were not breaking any rules at all."

Percy looked as though he had been struck in the face by something very heavy. Elizabeth thought it would have been for her to have been the cause of the look on his face. Cornelius Fudge on the other hand, remained motionless in mid-bounce, his mouth hanging open. Umbridge recovered quickly unfortunately.

"That's all very nice, Headmaster," she said smiling, "but we are now nearly six months after the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four. If the first meeting wasn't illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are."

"Well," Dumbledore smiled, "they certainly would be, if they had continued after the Decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that any such meetings continued?"

"We have a witness here that says that the meetings took place twice a week, every week," Umbridge stated.

Something clicked in Elizabeth's mind. If Marietta did in fact say something - after she got over the fact her face was covered in horrible purple pustules, of course - she would most definitely reveal that the D.A. meetings happened at the times Umbridge claimed they had taken place. Remembering the many spells she read from her times at the D.A., Elizabeth quietly took out her wand out of her sleeve and subtly pointed it at Marietta while the adults were discussing her inability to speak. She was sure Harry had heard her whisper Pro Memoriae2, and that her Head of House had seen her do it, but that didn't really matter. It was the first time she'd ever used a memory charm, so the effect created would only be seen when Marietta was asked about the meetings. To Elizabeth and Harry's relief, when asked, Marietta shook her head, saying the opposite of what Umbridge, Percy and the Minister wanted to hear.

"Usually when a person shakes their head, they mean no," Professor Snape said coldly after Umbridge asked why Marietta was shaking her head. "So unless Miss Edgecombe is using a form of sign-language as yet unknown to humans-"

Snape was interrupted by Umbridge seizing the girl by the shoulders and shaking her very hard. A split second later, Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand raised; Kingsley started forwards and Umbridge leapt back from Marietta, waving her hands in the air as though they had been burned. The Headmaster warned the woman in pink, and for the first time, he looked angry. Even Kingsley had to tell her to calm down, something Elizabeth found quite amusing.

"Dolores," Fudge said in a air that demonstrated he wanted this done once and for all, "the meeting tonight - the one we know definitely happened-"

"Yes, yes..." the woman said, pulling herself together, "well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded at once to the seventh floor, accompanied by certain trustworthy students, so as to catch those in the meeting red-handed. It appears that they were forewarned of my arrival, however, because when we reached the seventh floor they were running in every direction. It doesn't matter however, I have all their names here."

To Harry and Elizabeth's horror, Umbridge withdrew the list of names that had been pinned up on the Room of Requirement's wall and handed it to Fudge, who examined it. All Elizabeth could do was hope that Dumbledore found something clever to say about it. After Fudge looked at it and handed it over to Dumbledore, shouting about the students calling their group "Dumbledore's Army", the Headmaster smiled and looked up at the Minister.

"Well, the game is up," he said simply. "Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius - or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?"

Harry and Liz both saw the look that McGonagall and Kingsley shared; neither of them knew what was happening, and neither did Fudge apparently, who was gazing dumbfounded at Dumbledore. Liz didn't know if Harry understood, but with one look at her Head of House, she knew that Dumbledore was taking the fall and that she and Snape were the only ones to understand thus far.

"Statement? What - I don't -?"

"'Dumbledore's Army', Cornelius," the man said, still smiling as he waved the list of names before Fudge's face. "Not Potter's Army, not Evans' Army, but Dumbledore's Army."

"But - but -" Understanding then blazed in Fudge's face. "You?"

"That's right."

"You organised this?"

"I did," Dumbledore said pleasantly.

"You recruited these students for - for your army?" the Minister said incredulously.

"Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting, merely to see if they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe of course."

Marietta nodded. Liz knew that she wasn't responsible for that memory change. Fudge then looked from Marietta to Dumbledore, chest swelling with rage.

"Then you have been plotting against me!" he yelled.

"That's right," Dumbledore said cheerfully.

"NO!" Harry yelled. Elizabeth stomped discretely on his foot as both Kingsley and McGonagall shot him warning looks. But he didn't listen. "No - Professor-"

"Be quiet, Harry, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office."

"Yes, shut up, Potter!" Fudge barked, still ogling Dumbledore with sort of horrible delight. "Well, well, well... I came here tonight expecting to expel Potter and Granger, and instead-"

"And instead you arrest me. It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, is it not?" Dumbledore smiled.

"Weasley! Weasley, have you written all of this down, everything he's said, his confession, have you got it?"

"Yes, sir!" Percy said eagerly, his nose splattered with ink from the speed at which he was writing.

"Good. Duplicate your notes and send a copy to the Daily Prophet. Now," Fudge said, "Dumbledore, you will now be formally charged and sent to Azkaban prison to await trial."

"Ah, yes," Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, I thought we'd hit that little snag."

"Snag? There is no snag."

"Well - it seems that you have been labouring under the delusion that I am going to - what's the phrase? - come quietly. I am afraid that I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of going to Azkaban. I could break out, of course - but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of much better things I would rather be doing."

The man standing next to Kingsley made a move to his wand, but Dumbledore merely raised his hand to stop him. His other, drifted almost casually to his pocket. Elizabeth prepared for the worst.

"Don't be silly, Dawlish," he said kindly. "I'm sure you are an excellent Auror - I remember you achieving 'Outstanding' in all of your N.E.W.T.s - but if you attempt to, uh, bring me in by force, I will have to hurt you."

"Enough of this rubbish!" shouted Fudge, pulling out his wand. "Dawlish! Shacklebolt! Take him!"

Just as a streak of silver light flashed around the room, there was a bang like a gunshot and the floor trembled. Elizabeth grabbed her brother by the scruff of his neck and forced him down to the floor with her as a second silver bang went off. Several portraits yelled, Fawkes the Phoenix screeched and a cloud of dust instantly filled the air. There were a few groans, shrieks and thuds, and then Elizabeth rose with Harry. McGonagall and Snape were crouched down next to Marietta Edgecombe, having pushed her out of harm's way and Dumbledore was still standing behind his desk.

"Are you all right?" he asked everyone.

"Yes," McGonagall answered for everyone.

"Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, or it would have been very suspicious," Dumbledore said, then turned to Elizabeth. "I have to applaud you Miss Evans for modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like that - you were very quick on the uptake. Thank you." Elizabeth nodded simply. "Now, they will all wake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate - you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember-"

"Where will you go, Albus?" McGonagall whispered. "Grimmauld Place?"

"Oh no, I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you."

The people that had been stunned and knocked to the ground were now stirring and it was time for Dumbledore to leave. Fawkes circled the office and swooped low over the Headmaster and grabbed him by the arm. There was a flash of fire and the pair of them were gone. Extraordinary creatures Phoenixes are, Elizabeth thought. Soon, everyone was standing up and yelling after Dumbledore. Some ran out the door and others searched the office, but he was nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, no matter how wonderful it was to see Fudge so confused and irritated, it lead to the horrible event of Dolores Jane Umbridge being appointed the new Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	88. The Loss of Rights to a Nickname

Notices had gone up all around the school overnight, but that didn't explain how everyone seemed to know that Dumbledore had overcome two Aurors, the new Headmistress, the Minister for Magic and his Junior Assistant to escape. It surely wasn't because Elizabeth had told someone who, in turn, had spread the information because when she got back to her dormitory that night, she ignored everyone calling for her in the hallways and in her Common Room, including her boyfriend who Elizabeth learned was the one who brought in her brother. Of course it didn't make things better by ignoring him, but she was beyond mad at him for even being part of the Inquisitorial Squad now. Had last night not happened, she'd just be irritated about his abuse of point taking, but this? This wasn't acceptable.

The next morning, everyone that Elizabeth knew, or didn't, demanded a first hand account on what had happened the previous night, but Liz didn't oblige. Instead, she glared at them, thus making the students fear that she may take out her wand and hex them, something she'd sometimes do when she got extra irritated. Ella nearly hexed one student that accused her of turning the Minister's head into a pumpkin and another who yelled at her for jinxing Marietta.

When she walked through the doors to the Great Hall, most Slytherins were glaring at her so she went over to the Gryffindor table to sit with her brother, and Amir who soon joined them alongside Hermione and Ron. No one save the Slytherins were happy that Umbridge was now Headmistress. The Inquisitorial Squad had nearly taken over the Prefects' duties, therefore the Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were loosing tons of points each time they spoke an ill word about her. Harry looked as if his best friend had died, Ron didn't look much better and Hermione looked furious. As usual, Amir compensated for Elizabeth's lack of emotion.

"I can't believe that toad is our Headmistress, now," Hermione said angrily.

"I really didn't think things could get any worse..." Harry mumbled.

Just then, Fred and George walked up and at on either side of Elizabeth, looking quite please with themselves.

"Cheer up, dynamic quintet," Fred said.

"You look as if Dumbledore's not coming back," George added.

"What are you two so happy about?" Ron asked, irritated.

"Well, since the old hag has decided to take Quidditch and our dear headmaster away from us, we decided to declare war on her," Fred said, then swung an arm around Ella's shoulder. "And we've enlisted the Princess' help."

"No, you mustn't!" Hermione declared. "Things are bad enough as it is!"

"Don't worry, we don't care about being expelled anymore, and Ellie's only gonna be helping us in the background," George stated.

"We'd leave right now if we weren't determined to start phase one of 'Operation Dumbledore Strikes Back'," Fred chuckled.

"But you can't drop out of school! What'll you do afterward?" Hermione asked, panicked.

"Again, friends, that's already taken care of," George smiled. "Ellie has graciously given us her share of the Triwizard Tournament winnings with which we already paid for a shop in Diagon Alley. We just need to do our final tests on some of our more brilliant ideas, some of which this wonderful woman has also helped us create."

"You gave them your Tournament winnings!" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's not like I needed it - Harry and I have enough money in the bank already," Liz said with a shrug. Harry smiled.

"Which brings us back to 'Operation Burn Umbridge at the Stake'," Fred began.

"Don't you mean 'Operation Dumbledore Strikes Back'?" George asked.

"Same difference, really," Fred laughed. "Anyway, come on, Ellie, your services are required."

"Come on, can't I at least finish my tea?" the girl complained.

"Not a chance!"

Fred and George grabbed Elizabeth by the hands and dragged her down the corridor and up to the Gryffindor Common Room. The three friends then spent the next few hours in the boys' dorm planning and plotting the first phase of their plan, and trying to design a few more products for their joke shop. Lunch came rather quickly, and Lee Jordan ran into the dorm to tell the twins - he was surprised to see Elizabeth there, but shrugged and pretended that it was normal. As they were walking towards the Great Hall, Liz was stopped by Filch who was also dragging Harry around. Fred and George saluted her and she left with the Caretaker towards the Headmistress' office. Inside, Umbridge was sitting behind the desk, busily scribbling on some of her pink parchment (which made Elizabeth unconsciously gag), but she looked up and smiled wildly at Elizabeth's and Harry's entrance.

"Thank you, Argus," she said sweetly. Filch left. "Sit, please."

The siblings sat down in horribly pink chairs. The woman continued to scribble for a few moments. Elizabeth watched a few of the foul kittens on plates meow and purr, wondering what fresh horror she had in store for her and Harry. Just then, something began to bother her. There was a faint smell in the air; a smell which she couldn't quite identify. She was surprised her nose even picked it up.

"Well, now," the woman said, finally. "What would you like to drink?"

"What?" Harry said, confused.

"To drink, Mr Potter. Tea? Coffee? Pumpkin juice?"

"Nothing, thanks." Elizabeth said nothing, simply staring at the Headmistress.

"I insist you two have a drink with me," she said, dangerously sweet.

"Fine. Tea then," the Gryffindor answered for him and his sister.

The woman made quite a show as she poured milk and water over a teabag, then bustled around the desk to give the cups to the two students.

"There, drink up before it gets cold," Umbridge said. But neither of them made a move to drink. "Well, now, I thought we'd have a little chat about the distressing events of last night."

"Distressing? For you maybe... Letting Dumbledore escape right under your nose," Elizabeth said calmly, fingers playing at the rim of her cup. She saw the strain in Umbridge's face.

"You're not drinking up! Come now, before it gets cold," she said.

Both students raised the cup to their lips, but Elizabeth (she couldn't see whether Harry did the same) stopped. The almost non-existant odd smell reached her nostrils more clearly. There's something in the tea, she thought immediately, but what? The girl lowered the cup after pretending to have taken a sip. Umbridge's smile widened.

"Good," she whispered. "Now then, where is Albus Dumbledore."

"No idea," Harry said promptly.

"Come now drink up." Elizabeth understood now that the woman had put Veritaserum into her tea. Hopefully Harry hadn't drunk any of it. "Now, we all know that you two and Dumbledore have been in it together since the beginning. If you be so kind as to tell me his location-?"

"I don't know where he is."

Elizabeth pretended to drink again.

"Very well, then," Umbridge said. "In that case, you will kindly tell me the whereabouts of Sirius Black."

Elizabeth's stomach turned over in an instant. She was still furious with the man because of the memory she'd seen, but surely she didn't want to divulge his location - it would not only endanger his life, but that of countless others as well. Instead, she remained quiet while Harry answered for her.

"I don't know," he said.

"Mr Potter, I repeat... Where is Sirius Black?"

"No idea... Haven't got a clue."

"Miss Evans? You've been very quiet."

"What can I say? My brother is telling you everything I know," Liz replied, pretending to take another sip of her tea. The woman swerved in her chair, letting the Slytherin dump the tea into a nearby plant before Umbridge could turn back around. Harry grinned at her and did the same.

"Very well, Potter, Evans. I'll take your word for it this time, but be warned: the might of the Ministry stands behind me."

As Umbridge continued to speak, Elizabeth glanced at the pink-handed clock that was on the wall beside her. It was one minute to noon. A small smile crept onto her features, which made both Harry and the Headmistress look at her, confused.

"What are you smiling about, girl?"

"It's almost noon. Lunch time is at noon. I'm quite hungry," Elizabeth said, trying to mimic the effects of Veritaserum.

Umbridge nodded and kept talking. Ella glanced back at the clock. Three - two - one... BOOM! The floor of the very office shook causing the woman in pink to slip sideways and clutch her desk for support, looking shocked. Suddenly, the screams and cheers of children several floors below, and their feet running across the stone floors rang in Liz's ears. Umbridge gazed at the door to her office for a moment, expecting someone to run in and explain. No one did. She ordered Harry and Elizabeth to go back downstairs and dashed out the room, wand raised. Elizabeth made to follow but Harry stopped her.

"What was in that tea?" he asked.

"Veritaserum. I could smell it, which is odd since it's usually odorless," Elizabeth replied. "Now, come on - you're going to miss the show!"

"What show?"

The excitement was not hard to find. One floor down, pandemonium reigned. Fred and George had set off what seemed to be an enormous crate of enchanted fireworks. Dragons comprised entirely of green and gold sparks were soaring through up and down the corridors, emitting loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went; shocking pink wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like flying blades; rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls; sparklers were writing swear words in midair of their own accord; firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere Harry and Elizabeth looked, and instead of burning themselves out like regular fireworks and fizzing out to a stop, Ellie's charm-work let them gain more and more momentum as they went.

Filch and Umbridge stood at the bottom of the stairs, apparently transfixed in horror. As Liz watched, smiling, one of the larger wheels made towards Umbridge's head, causing her to duck and allow a rather large purple bat to swerve up to the second floor. Umbridge tried to shoot the fireworks down with stunning spells, but instead of freezing in midair, they exploded with such force that they blasted holes in portraits and knocked off pieces of wall. Having enough of laughing, Elizabeth took the opportunity to dash through the crowd of students and behind a rather large tapestry, a tapestry where Fred and George were hiding and listening to Umbridge and Filch's cursing.

"Impressive, boys," she chuckled. "You'll definitely put Dr Filibuster out of business with these, no problem."

"You helped with those defensive charm, Ellie," George whispered. "Speaking of which, I can't wait until she tries vanishing them and they start multiplying instead."

"Oh, professor Umbridge, ma'am," Liz began mockingly, "there are some fireworks going off in the corridor. I would get rid of them myself, but as a Prefect, I don't know whether I had the authority." The boys laughed.

"Well, I say you don't, and let her deal with this - oh look, her skirt's on fire!"

That night, Elizabeth came back to the Dungeons in a great mood and a smile on her face. Fred and George Weasley were the heroes of Hogwarts tonight, and Ellie wasn't surprised to hear that people had already begun purchasing some of their Basic Blaze boxes for five Galleons and a few of their Deflagration Deluxe, which they were selling at a whopping twenty Galleons. The girl could still hear the distant bangs of escaped firecrackers when she flopped down on the couch in front of the fireplace, determined to finish her homework before Easter break, as to have as much time as possible to relax. However, her Transfiguration essay writing was interrupted by Draco Malfoy, who slumped down beside her, nearly glaring.

"You've been ignoring me," he said flatly.

"I hadn't noticed," Ella replied, not peeling her eyes off her parchment. There was a moment of silence.

"So you haven't been having to help Weasley with his homework, or go out to serve detention with Professor McGonagall? Instead, you and your little Egyptian have been running off to practise stunning spells in broad daylight?"

"If I told you, would you keep the information to yourself or run off and tell that toad what I said so she can use it against me?"

"Of course, I'd tell her! She's the Headmistress and High Inquisitor," Draco said as if it were obvious. Elizabeth paused and dropped her quill. She turned to look at her boyfriend, jaw clenched.

"So you would sell me out to the Ministry, have me expelled and potentially sent to Azkaban? Some boyfriend you are," the girl said sharply, and gathered her things.

"Ella-"

"You are in no position to use that nickname, Draco." Elizabeth interrupted. "In case you haven't noticed, I've only been ignoring you because you sold out my brother and dropped him on Umbridge's doorstep like a pretty little package."

"I had no choice-"

"What do you mean you had no choice! You always have a choice, Draco. You could've just let us go and not be so insisting on ruining all those students' chances at actually learning something for a chance, instead of listening to that pink toad shove more lies down their throats," Elizabeth said, her anger very apparent. "I don't know if you've noticed Draco, but we're on the edge of a war, here, and the Ministry isn't acknowledging its presence because they refused to believe Dumbledore was right... that Harry was right... that I was right. I mean, why should they, right? It would make them look bad and we can't have that, now can we?" Elizabeth paused and took a deep breath. "Now, when you're ready to stop believing your father and the lies he's been feeding you about how great the Ministry is, come find me. Until then, consider us done."


	89. Careers Advice

Elizabeth woke up in a surprisingly good mood the following day. Even Hermione, due to the events of the following night, was in such a good mood that she told Harry and Ron to take a break from studying, and Amir was happy he didn't have to deal with Draco for a while - Elizabeth told her best friend that she and the blond had had a row and that she wasn't speaking to him "until he pulls his head out of his arse". However, no matter how much she tried to ignore and avoid the young Malfoy, he always seemed to pop up at darnedest of times; once, on her way to History of Magic with Amir, she saw him and Parkinson having a row; Elizabeth thought she heard her name being shouted and wondered what could have possibly happened for her to be brought up in their conversation.

For some reason, Harry had been less than happy that day. Elizabeth thought it was because of Snape's Occlumency lessons again, but the weariness pursued when he was in the presence of his sister. Of course, Liz couldn't think of anything that she could have possibly done in the last twenty-four hours to have made Harry scared of her. However, Elizabeth learned from Hermione and Ron, that he no longer had any of Dumbledore's mandatory Occlumency lessons with Snape, which confused everyone, including Amir who had been brought into the loop.

"Harry, those classes are mandatory," Liz told her brother at breakfast one morning. "You can't not have any."

"I've told you," he muttered, "Snape reckons I can carry on by myself now that I know the basics."

"That's impossible." Ellie stuffed a piece of waffle in her mouth. "I'm way pasht the bashics and he's shtill teashing me."

"Have you stopped having odd dreams, then, Harry," Amir asked.

"Pretty much," he replied. Liz frowned and swallowed.

"Quit lying, Harry."

"I'm not. Now leave it." Something came to Elizabeth's mind and her eyes grew wide.

"I'm not leaving it, Harry. Come here."

Ellie stood up and dragged her brother away from the Great Hall and into and empty corridor. She checked either side of it to make sure no one was coming and ran back to Harry, moss green eyes staring into bright green ones. Harry, as predicted, seemed weary.

"You saw it didn't you? You looked in the Pensieve?"

"How did you-?"

"I'm top of my class, Harry. I think I can figure out when someone's been snooping in things they should have been snooping in and got caught doing it," Elizabeth said rapidly.

"But you-?"

"I don't know, I was faster I guess. I was able to cover it up by saying I cleaning up jars I knocked down, but that's not the point!" Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder for a split second. "Why the hell do you look scared of me?"

"Because Snape was right! My dad was arrogant and a bully, even Mum thought that! I just didn't want you to rub it in my face 'cause you're practically in love with Snape," Harry said.

"It's Professor Snape, to you, Chosen One."

"See? I didn't want you coming up to me and being all like, ha! I told you you were wrong to hate Snape, or whatever."

"Harry, I've been telling you that hating Snape was a bad idea since first year," Liz chuckled. "Besides, just because we saw a memory of your dad and Sirius being a bunch of twats, it doesn't mean that that sole memory defines who they are as people. Sure your dad was a bully, but so what? I can be sometimes too, and you don't hate me for it, do you?" Harry shook his head. "People change, Harry... I'm sure James did, after all, he did end up marrying our mother. And look at Sirius, he's fantastic today."

Harry seemed more or less convinced of Elizabeth's words, most likely because it sounded like the girl was trying to convince herself that that was all it was; one simple memory, one simple mistake that James and Sirius made, one simple thing that, hopefully, wasn't the basis of their personalities.

* * *

 **CAREERS ADVICE**

 **All fifth years are required to attend a short meeting with their Head of House during the first week of the summer term to discuss their future careers. Times of individual appointments are listed below.**

As though to amplify the importance of their upcoming examinations, a batch of pamphlets, leaflets and notices concerning various wizarding careers appeared on the tables of the Slytherin Dungeon shortly before the end of the Easter holiday, along with yet another notice on the board about Careers Advice. Elizabeth was expected to meet with Professor Snape at half-past three on Monday which meant missing most of History of Magic - not that she minded - and Amir was set straight after, missing most of his Transfiguration class with McGonagall - he wasn't complaining either. They and the other fifth years spent the rest of their holiday reading all the career information that had been left there.

"Well, I do not think I would enjoy healing," Amir said, perusing through a leaflet that showed the crossed bone-and-wand of St Mungo's. "It says here you need at least 'Exceeds Expectations' at N.E.W.T. level in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms and Defense Against the Dark Arts... They do not want much, do they?" he added sarcastically. "I definitely cannot get an 'E' in Herbology... Devil's Snare still confuses me."

"Well, it's a responsible job, isn't it?" Elizabeth said absent-minded, looking though a bright pink and orange pamphlet that was headed, 'SO YOU THINK YOU'D LIKE TO WORK IN MUGGLE RELATIONS?' "Well, you definitely don't need Herbology to liaise with Muggles; all they want is an O.W.L in Muggle Studies... Mind you, it might take an 'O' in Defense Against the Dark Arts to liaise with Harry's Aunt and Uncle."

"Listen to this," Amir said with a chuckle. "'Are you seeking a challenging career involving travel, adventure and substantial danger-related treasure bonuses? Then consider a position with Gringotts Wizarding Bank, who are currently recruiting curse-breakers for thrilling opportunities abroad.'"

"Sounds pretty dramatic, but you could do it - you're wonderful in DADA and you're doing Arithmancy - Merlin knows why," Ellie laughed.

"You can predict the future with numbers, my dear Rose - that is why. It is much better than staring into lavender smoke and unsavory tea leaves with that Trelawney - I heard Umbridge made her resign."

"Yeah, she's living in the attic or something now, I don't really care. Dumbledore just didn't want her to leave or whatever." There was a moment of silence. "Hey, Ramses?"

"Yes, Rose?" he said.

"'HAVE YOU GOT WHAT IT TAKES TO TRAIN SECURITY TROLLS?'"

* * *

Today was the last day of the Easter holiday and Elizabeth and Amir were finishing up their studying in the Great Hall. It was a truly glorious day, and the bewitched ceiling reflected the clear, opalescent blue sky that was outside. Hermione soon joined them, Harry and Ron glumly treading behind her. Of course, Hermione was finally refusing to take notes for them, hence her irritated expression and the boys' gloominess. But the gloom was soon replaced by confusion as Fred and George squeezed their way into the conversation.

"Hey," Fred whispered in Harry's direction. "Ginny's had a word with us about you. She says you need to talk to Sirius."

"What?" Hermione and Elizabeth echoed sharply, both freezing with their hands over the bowl of apples.

"Yeah," Harry said, trying to sound casual, "yeah, I thought I'd like-"

"Don't be ridiculous," Hermione said, straightening up.

"With Toad groping around in the fires and frisking all the owls? Are you mad?" Liz added, taking a bite from her green apple.

"Well, we think we can find a way around that. With Ellie's help of course," George said, smiling. "It's a simple matter of causing a diversion. Now, you might have noticed that we have been rather quiet on the mayhem front during the Easter holidays?"

"What was the point, we asked ourselves, of disrupting leisure time?" Fred continued. "No point at all, we answered ourselves. And, of course, we'd have messed up people's revisions too, which would be the very last thing we'd want to do." He gave a little nod towards Hermione, who seemed taken aback by their thoughtfulness. Elizabeth knew better. "But it's back to business as usual starting tomorrow. And if we're going to be causing a bit of an uproar, why not do it so that Harry-"

"And Liz," Harry added quickly.

"What?"

"-and Ellie can have a little chat with Sirius?"

"But still, even if you do create a diversion that works and you somehow managed to drag me into this, how are you going to talk to him?" Elizabeth asked.

"Umbridge's office..." Harry said quietly.

"Are - you - insane?" Hermione complained.

"I don't think so."

"How are you even going to get yourself - and me apparently - in that toad's office? Alohomora probably won't even work on that door, knowing her," Ellie growled.

"Sirius' knife."

There was a collective 'what?'.

"Christmas before last Sirius gave me a knife that'll open any lock," Harry began to explain. "So even if it's bewitched to not unlock with Alohomora - it will anyway... With the knife."

"What do you think about this?" Hermione asked Ron, who had only just looked up from his pamphlet about the Cultivated Fungus Trade.

"I dunno," he said, alarmed. "If Harry wants to, it's up to him, isn't it?"

"Spoken like a true friend and Weasley," Fred said, clapping Ron on the back. "Right, then. Ellie, remember phase two?"

"Are you serious?" the girl said, exasperated.

"Yes. Now, the best time for it is-?"

"Just after lessons. It should cause maximum impact if everybody's in the corridors."

"Great," George continued. "Harry, Ellie, we'll set it off in the East Wing somewhere, draw her right away from her own office. We can guarantee what?" Fred and George looked to Elizabeth, who sighed.

"About twenty minutes," she replied.

"Done," Fred smiled.

"What kind of diversion is it?" Ron asked.

"You'll see little bro," George said, as he and Fred got up again. "At least, you will if you trot along to Gregory the Smarmy's corridor at around five o'clock tomorrow."

The boys left and all heads turned towards Elizabeth.

"What are they planning, exactly?" Amir asked, weary.

"You don't want to know..."

The next day went by without any snags of problems. Transfiguration went by smoothly as Elizabeth had already mastered the Vanishing Spell she needed to learn for her O.W.L.; she and Amir had managed not to get their fingers bitten off by the Fanged Geranium and the Chinese Chomping Cabbage; she successfully avoided Draco all the while perfectly brewing her Draught of Peace, and Amir managed to not get themselves kicked out of their History of Magic class... well, whatever small portion of it Elizabeth had to endure before going off to see her Head of House for her Careers Advice meeting. To be honest, she was quite nervous. One of the career options she was considering was a position as an Auror, but they only took the best and even then, they hadn't taken anyone in the past three years. Her second option was the one she was hoping for: Potions Master. However, that would mean taking her favourite professor's job. How is he going to react to that? Liz thought as she made her way through the Dungeons. When she entered, the girl immediately sat down in the chair that Snape pointed at. Unfortunately, as she quickly glanced around, she spotted Umbridge standing in the corner, pink robes buttoned up tight and clipboard in hand.

"Good afternoon, Miss Evans," Snape said.

"Good afternoon, sir," she replied, straightening up.

"The purpose of this meeting, as you have most likely gathered, is to talk over any career ideas you might have, and to aid you in deciding which subjects you should continue to study in your sixth and seventh years," Snape stated, earning him a small nervous nod from his student. "Have you had any thoughts about what you would care to pursue post-Hogwarts?"

"Well, I was considering two career paths." Snape waited for the girl to continue. "I thought of, maybe, becoming an Auror."

"You'd need top grades for that," Snape said, extracting a dark leaflet from the mass on his desk and opening it. "They ask for a minimum of five N.E.W.T.s, and nothing less under 'Exceeds Expectations', I see. Then you would required to undergo a stringent series of character and aptitude tests at the Auror office." Elizabeth swallowed with great difficulty. "It is a difficult path, Miss Evans, they only take the best. In fact, nobody has been admitted in the last three years."

At that moment, Elizabeth blinked stupidly and Umbridge let out a little cough, as if testing how quietly she could do it. Snape ignored her.

"You'll want to know what subjects to take I suppose?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess Defense Against the Dark Arts is a must."

"Naturally," Snape began crisply, "I would also advise-"

Umbridge gave another cough which was a little more audible than the last. Snape closed his eyes for a moment, opened them again, and continued as if nothing had happened.

"I would also advise Transfiguration, because Aurors frequently Transfigure and Untransfigure in their work. It would also be wise to do Charms, Potions is always useful to study although you could do just fine right away-"

Umbridge gave her most pronounced cough yet.

"Yes?" Snape finally said.

"I just wondered if I could make the teensiest of interruptions, Severus?" Umbridge asked sweetly.

"Go on."

"I was just wondering whether Miss Evans had the proper temperament for an Auror."

"Were you?" Snape said then continued as if the woman hadn't spoken. "Well, Miss Evans, if you are serious in this ambition, I would advise you to keep your grades the way they are and to - yes, Professor?"

"I'm just concerned that you might not have Elizabe-"

"I request that you do not call my student by her first name," Snape interrupted quite sharply.

"Of course," Umbridge said curtly. "I'm concerned that you might not have Miss Evans' most recent Defense Against the Dark Arts marks in front of you. I'm quite sure I slipped you a note."

"Ah, yes, this," Snape said, not daring to touch the horrible pink piece of parchment that was underneath many layers of pamphlets and leaflets concerning wizard banking and ministry jobs. "As I was saying, Professor Lupin thought you showed a pronounced aptitude for the subject, and obviously for an Auror - yes?"

"Did you not understand my note, Severus?" Umbridge asked sweetly.

"Of course, I understood it," Snape said through clenched teeth.

"Well, then I am confused... I'm afraid I don't quite understand how you can give Miss Evans false hope-"

"False hope? She has received tops marks in all her Defense Against the Dark Arts tests."

"I'm terribly sorry to have to contradict you, Severus, but as you will see from my note, Miss Evans has only been achieving an 'Acceptable' in her classes with me," the Headmistress stated.

"Pardon me, I should have made my meaning clearer," Snape said almost cheerfully. "She has received high marks in all Defense Against the Dark Arts tests set by a competent teacher."

Elizabeth had to retain an ugly snort of laughter as Professor Umbridge's sweet smile vanished from her face. One-nothing for Snape, Liz thought, amused. The woman went back to her chair in the corner and scribbled onto her clipboard so fast Ellie thought her quill might have broken off.

"Any questions for option one, Miss Evans?"

"Yes," Elizabeth said, tearing her eyes away from Umbridge. "If one does get enough N.E.W.T.s, what sort of tests does the Ministry perform on you?"

"You will need to demonstrate the ability to react well to pressure and so forth," Snape said, glancing at the woman in pink and clearly rolling his eyes, "perseverance and dedication, because Auror training requires an extra three years in practical Defense. It will mean a lot more studying even after you've left Hogwarts, so unless you're prepared to-"

"Evans has no chance whatsoever of becoming an Auror!" Umbridge shouted and rising to her feet. Snape stayed seated, but anger was clearly spread onto his features. "The Minister for Magic will never employ Evans as an Auror and-"

"That's fine!" Elizabeth yelled, making both Snape and Umbridge turn to her in surprise. "It's fine, really. Being an Auror is only my second career choice. I'm actually aiming to replace you sir, if I may be so bold," she continued, gesturing at Snape. "And if I'm correct, the Ministry cannot interfere with whom the Headmaster of a school wishes to employ.

"So, when Headmaster Dumbledore returns, which he will in due time, I'm sure he will have no problems in hiring me once Professor Snape retires. That is, of course, if I meet the required criteria for the job - and if I'm not mistaken, I think have the required skills in Potions, Herbology and possibly Charms to continue studying them at N.E.W.T level?"

There was a moment of silence where neither Umbridge or Snape knew what to say. They simple stared at her as she rose and swung her book bag over her shoulder. Elizabeth pushed her chair in looked at her Head of House, anticipating a short response. The man quickly collected himself and looked at her.

"That would be correct, Miss Evans. Of course, other qualifications can't hurt."

"Thank you, Professor," Liz said to Snape, then turned to glare at Umbridge who still looked as if a light bulb had exploded in her face. Rose came closer to the woman, more than she would normally allow. "You are a raving lunatic, Dolores," the girl whispered then stalked out of the office, head held high.


	90. Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

Hermione wasn't being much of use, or of any use for that matter, for the task at hand. Harry and Elizabeth, after their classes, were meant to break into Headmistress Umbridge's horrific pink office and attempt to communicate with Sirius. Liz being Liz thought it was a horrible idea, considering that Harry only wanted to talk with his Godfather about the memory he wasn't even supposed to have seen. Wasn't there a better excuse to speak with him? Elizabeth didn't feel the need to speak to Sirius about it, so why should Harry? Besides, it was a dangerous thing to do for no good reason.

Elizabeth could just imagine Professor Snape's reaction if she was caught trespassing in Professor Umbridge's office mere hours after he had vouched for her about the Auror position she was considering. There was nothing stopping her from going back to the Slytherin Dungeon and hoping that Harry would have the decency to at least wait until the summer holidays to ask him about Snape's memory... nothing except her own will power to go back and ignore that her brother had ever mentioned that she wanted to talk to Sirius. However, Fred and George's diversion was already planned, and it wasn't as if she herself hadn't spent hours helping them plan it amongst other things. Bloody hell, she thought, I've got to do this. But then again, there was always Hermione's useless, yet oh-so-compelling argument, against Harry's idea: "Dumbledore sacrificed himself to keep you in school, Harry! And if the both of you get thrown out today it will have been all for nothing!"

But when the bell rang after her Ancient Runes class, not even Amir Ferran could have stopped her from being dragged off by Harry. Elizabeth could tell that Harry was very nervous, and he seemed quite perplexed at his sister's indifference - she definitely wasn't. Her natural character, with the added Occlumency classes, definitely had a role to play in her impassive expression as she and Harry stormed down the corridors to Umbridge's office. The Slytherin wasn't even deterred by the sudden sound of screams and yells coming from Fred and George's diversion in the distance. The two looked up at the ceiling and hid their faces as Umbridge came pelting out of her classroom as fast as her short legs could take her. Pulling out her wand, she headed in the opposite direction. Suddenly, Elizabeth was being dragged into a run by Harry who had sprinted off towards Umbridge's office, determined to make full use of that twenty minutes Fred and George could give them.

The siblings found the door deserted once they'd arrived in front of it. Harry dropped his book bag and took out his invisibility cloak, threw it around himself and Ellie, then took out Sirius' knife. He opened it and inserted the blade into the crack around the door and moved it gently up and down until a clicking sound was heard. Swiftly, Harry and Elizabeth ducked inside the pink office which still had those awful plates and pictures covered in kittens above the confiscated broomsticks. Ella pulled off the cloak and set aside as Harry went over to a box containing glittering Floo Powder. Both of them had never done this before, so when their faces in fireplace began to whirl around as would their entire bodies, it felt more odd than usual. Soon, they were both gazing at the long table in the kitchen where a man was sitting and pouring over a parchment. He scratched his chin with the end of the quill.

"Remus?"

The man jumped and looked around.

"Elizabeth? Harry?" he said, looking thoroughly shocked. "What are you - what's happened, is everything all right?"

"Yeah, it is," Liz answered, "but my idiot brother here just fancied a chat with Sirius and had to drag me along with him."

"I'll call him," Lupin said, getting to his feet and still looking quite perplexed.

Harry and Elizabeth saw Lupin hurry out of the kitchen, leaving them to stare at the dusty table legs and floor. Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably; her knees weren't appreciating the hard stone floor of Umbridge's office. Moments later, Remus returned with Sirius at his heels and looking panicked.

"What is it?" he said, sweeping his long dark hair out of his face and crouching down to be at the siblings' level. "Are you all right? Do you need help?"

"No... it's nothing like that," Harry said. "I just... I wanted to talk about my dad."

Sirius and Lupin exchanged a look of great surprise, but apparently Harry didn't have the patience Elizabeth expected. Instead, he dove straight into Snape's memory, not forgetting to mention that he had gotten caught and not Liz. When Harry was done, Elizabeth was angered by their lack of response. How could they find nothing to say? It was plain to her that they had to justify their actions, or at least try to. Remus spoke first.

"I wouldn't like for you two to judge James on what you saw there. He was only fifteen-"

"I'm fifteen!" Elizabeth yelled at her Godfather for the first time. There was another moment of silence. "Say something!"

"Look you two," Sirius said placatingly, "James and Snape hated each other from the moment they set eyes on each other, it was just one of those things, you can understand that, can't you? I think James was everything was everything Snape wanted to be-"

"Excuse me, but so far the better man is Severus Snape, Sirius. I don't think he much cared that James was better at Quidditch, or if he was popu- no, he wasn't better at everything!"

"Elizabeth, Snape was just this little oddball who was up to his eyes in the Dark Arts, and James - whatever else he might have been - always hated the Dark Arts."

"I'm up to my eyeballs in the Dark Arts! Do you see people hexing me because of it? Besides, I don't think Harry can understand, considering that he hates Malfoy enough to hex him but has the decency not to do it!" Ellie bellowed.

"I kind of agree with Liz, here..." Harry said quietly. "I mean, he just attacked Snape for no good reason, just because - well, just because you said you were bored."

"I'm not proud of it," Sirius said immediately. Elizabeth scoffed.

"Look," Lupin said, glancing sideways at Sirius for a moment, "what you've got to understand is that James and Sirius were the best in the school at whatever they did - Elizabeth not now - everyone thought they were the height of cool - even if they sometimes got a bit carried away-"

"If we were sometimes arrogant little berks, you mean," Sirius said. Lupin smiled.

"He kept messing up his hair... and staring at the girls by the lake," Harry added.

"Oh, well he always made a fool of himself whenever Lily was around," Sirius shrugged, "he couldn't stop himself showing off whenever he got near her."

"Why the hell did she marry him then? She hated him!" Elizabeth said.

"Nah, she didn't," Sirius said.

"She started going out with him in seventh year," Lupin added.

"Once James had deflated his head a bit."

"And stopped hexing people just for the fun of it."

"Even Snape?" Harry asked.

"Well," Remus said slowly, "Snape was a special case. I mean, he never lost an opportunity to curse James, so you couldn't really expect him to take that lying down, could you?"

"And be a responsible human being, you mean? Yes, I would actually expect that from the Great James Potter," Ellie said mockingly. "But how could mum be okay with that?"

"Lily didn't know too much about it to be honest," Sirius said. "I mean, James didn't take Snape on dates with her and jinx him in front of her, did he?"

Both Sirius and Lupin frowned at the siblings, who both still looked unconvinced.

"James was a great person. A lot of people are idiots at the age of fifteen. He grew out of it," Sirius defended.

"Yeah, okay," Harry sighed. "I just never thought I'd feel sorry for Snape."

"Oh, I feel more than sorrow at the moment," Liz said through clenched teeth. Lupin gave her a pained look, then turned to Harry.

"Now that you mention it, how did Snape react when he found you'd seen all this?"

"He told me he'd never teach me Occlumency again," Harry replied indifferently, "like that's a big disappoint-"

"He WHAT?" Sirius shouted.

"Are you serious, Harry?" Remus said quickly. "He's stopped giving you lessons?"

"Yeah, but it's okay, I don't care. It's a bit of a relief to tell you the-"

"I'm coming up there to have a word with Snape!" Sirius roared, and he actually made to stand up before Lupin wrenched him back down again.

"If anyone's going to tell Snape it will be me," he said firmly. "Elizabeth, you're still receiving lessons, correct?"

"Of course I am! Did you think I'd let myself get caught invading my Professor's privacy?" the girl said bitterly.

"Good. Now, Harry, you have to go back to Snape and tell him that on no account is he to stop giving you lessons - when Dumbledore hears-"

"I can't tell him that, he'd kill me!" Harry said, outraged. "You didn't see him when I got out of the Pensieve."

"Harry, there's nothing more important than the two of you learning Occlumency-"

"If it's so important, why can't Dumbledore teach Harry instead of putting him with Professor Snape? Clearly that was a bad decision on his part," Elizabeth commented.

"Okay, okay!" Harry interjected before Sirius could. "I'll try and say something to him... but it won't be - hey!"

Elizabeth had just shushed her brother at the sound of approaching footsteps. She asked Remus whether it was someone on their end, but they couldn't hear anything. The footsteps got louder and Liz knew that it was someone coming towards the office. The siblings bid Remus and Sirius goodbye and hastily removed themselves from the fire and threw the discarded cloak back onto their shoulders. Just then, Filch came into the office looking absolutely delighted and singing something that sounded horribly like "Approval for Whipping". Harry and Liz got to their feet and followed Filch, who was hobbling along faster than they had ever seen him go.

One landing below from Umbridge's office, Harry figured it was safe to remove the cloak and blend in with everybody. There was a great deal of shouting coming from all directions, but mostly the Entrance Hall where it seemed most of the school had gathered. Students were standing all around the walls and a great ring (most of them covered in a substance that looked very much like Stinksap); teachers and ghosts were also in the crowd. Prominent amongst the onlookers were member of the Inquisitorial Squad, who were all looking highly pleased with themselves, and Peeves, who was floating overhead and gazing down at Fred and George, who stopped in the middle of the floor with the unmistakable look of two people having just been cornered.

"So!" Umbridge said triumphantly. Ellie realised that she was standing only a few stairs in front of her and her brother. "So - you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"Pretty amusing, yeah," Fred said, looking up at her without the slightest glimmer of intimidation or fear.

"You two are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."

"You know what? I don't think we are." Fred turned to his twin. "George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," George said lightly.

"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" Fred asked.

"Definitely."

And before Umbridge could say a single word, Fred and George raised their wands and summoned their brooms. Elizabeth heard a crash from somewhere in the distance and she ducked just in time as both broomsticks came zooming past her ear, one of which still carried the chain that was fastening it to the wall. They came to a stop just in front of their owners, who swung themselves over their respective broom.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Umbridge.

"Yeah, don't bother keeping in touch," George said.

"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three Diagon Alley - Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, our new premises!" Fred said loudly to the assembled students.

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," George said, pointing at Umbridge. "See the Princess for details."

Most people were confused, but those who knew who said Princess was, laughed and cheered. Elizabeth rolled her eyes at them and they both winked at her before kicking off the ground. The Inquisitorial Squad was too late to catch them as the twins soared fifteen feet into the air. Fred looked over at Peeves the poltergeist.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves."

And Peeves, who never took orders from anyone, especially students, swept his belled hat of of his head and sprang to a salute as Fred and George wheeled around to the applause and cheers from the students below and sped out the front doors of Hogwarts castle. Umbridge stomped her feet on the ground like a child having a tantrum and ordered a few students to clean up the swamp seeing as it was obvious she didn't want a repeat of the Wildfire Whiz-Bang situation. As a few students came up to Ellie concerning the details of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes purchases, Draco Malfoy caught the girl's eye, and she could have sworn, in that moment, that he looked ashamed of himself.


	91. Ordinary Wizarding Levels

Fred and George made sure that no one forgot them anytime soon. For one thing, they hadn't left instructions on how to remove the swamp that they'd unleashed on the fifth floor, and the professors - who probably knew how - and Elizabeth - who definitely knew how - were letting Umbridge and Filch deal with it since the students she'd asked to clean it up, came back to her covered head to toe in Stinksap. Then there were two large broomstick-shaped holes in Umbridge's office door, through which Fred and George's Cleansweeps had burst through. Lastly, many, many students were inspired by Fred and George's example and a great number of them were now vying for the newly vacant positions of Troublemakers-in-Chief: in spite of Umbridge's newly fitted door, someone had managed to slip in a Niffler, which promptly tore the place apart in search for shiny objects; Dungbombs and Stink Pellets were dropped so frequently in the corridor that a lot of students performed the Bubble-Head Charm on themselves before going to class even though it gave them quite a peculiar appearance.

Filch prowled the corridors with a horsewhip ready in his hands, desperate to catch miscreants in the act, but there were now so many of them he hadn't the faintest idea where to start. Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad attempted to help him, but odd things seemed to be happening to them all the time. Cassius Warrington, Chaser on the Slytherin team, ended up in the hospital wing with a horrid skin condition that made him look as though he'd been coated in cornflakes; Pansy Parkinson, courtesy of Amir, had sprouted antlers and missed her classes that day, much to Hermione's delight. Meanwhile, it became clear how many Weasley's Wizard Wheezes items had been purchased, courtsey of the Princess, otherwise known as Elizabeth Evans. The most popular item was by far Fred's Skiving Snackbox which, when consumed, gave the student the right to blame their high fevers, incessant projectile vomiting and constant nose-bleeds on Umbridge - they even started calling it "Umbridge-itis". Even Peeves had taken the twins' advice to heart and had been wreaking havoc throughout the castle, much to everyone's delight - for once. Even McGonagall was reported to have aided Peeves in unscrewing a crystal chandelier over Umbridge's head. To top things off, Montague still hadn't recovered from his sojourn in the toilet; he remained confused and disoriented, much to Elizabeth's delight.

"When Mum's next letter finally gets through Umbridge's screening process," Ron said as he, Hermione, Harry, Amir and Elizabeth practised one of their Charms in the Great Hall during break, "I'm going to be the one in trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if she sent another Howler."

"But-"

"It'll be my fault Fred and George left, you wait. She'll say I should've stopped them leaving by hanging onto their brooms or something."

"If she does, it'll be unfair," Elizabeth said calmly, tapping her teacup as so it scampered away happily. "You couldn't have done anything. Besides, if she should be mad at one of us, it's definitely me; I did help them plan this you know?"

"They've probably been planning this for ages too," Hermione added.

"They've been planning this since their third year and our first."

"Oh, this is great! Liz, can I blame this all on you if Mum ever comes after me?" Ron said happily.

"Yeah, I suppose you'd better. Especially if she starts thinking they're receiving stolen candlesticks from Mundungus Fletcher or something."

"Is he the one who keeps trying to steal things from Grimmauld Place?" Amir asked, tapping his teacup so it stopped moving.

"Yeah, we all just call him Dung."

* * *

The euphoria of Gryffindor finally winning a Quidditch match had lasted about a week. Nearly every day Ron would start talking about his amazing saves all the while he swept back his hair unnecessarily, quite like James Potter used to do. But the euphoria soon faded. The sun was gleaming almost ironically on the grounds as hundreds of students made their way across the satin green lawns of the castle grounds. This ironic beauty seemed to be laughing in their face as, to the fifth-years, this weather meant Ordinary Wizarding Level's.

For the past week, teacher hadn't been setting any homework and lessons were devoted to pure and intensive revision on everything that would most likely be in their final O.W.L. This pleased Elizabeth very much since she had enough of dealing with Snape's Occlumency lessons and Hermione badgering her about not having studied enough when she clearly had. But Hermione wasn't the only one acting strangely as the O.W.L.s drew nearer. It seemed, much to Elizabeth's apparent annoyance, that Draco Malfoy seemed to be trying to get her attention more and more often. He seemed to be going out of his way to get to her and when he did, he never asked what he wanted to ask but instead, came up with excuse that he needed her help with studying. Of course, Elizabeth knew he was lying - Draco Malfoy, contrary to popular belief was incredibly smart, only second to herself and Hermione who were tied for the best grades in their year. Instead of answering him like she knew she should, she simply ignored him and let him go off and traumatise some more first years.

Other students, namely fifth and seventh years, had been creating a flourishing black-market trade in aids to concentration, mental agility and wakefulness for their final exams. Harry and Ron were much tempted by the bottle of Barrufio's Brain Elixir offered by a sixth year Ravenclaw, but most of those products were confiscated by Hermione and Elizabeth, both still adamant on using their Prefect abilities even though the Inquisitorial Squad was reigning. But even before they had confiscated them, lots of students came to ask Ellie if the potions and powders were legitimate - they'd figured that she'd know since she was the best student in Potions. Most if not all turned out to be useless; Harry and Ron almost purchased powdered Doxy droppings disguised as powdered Dragon claw, once.

As Elizabeth was doodling on a piece of parchment in her Potions class one afternoon, she had the misfortune of having Malfoy sit next to her, much to Parkinson, Crabbe and Goyle's surprise - they knew they hadn't been talking. And it seemed to them that Ellie was thinking the same thing as they were, considering the look of disdain present on the girl's features as she turned to look at him. But it was a hard facade to keep up to be honest. Elizabeth was indeed still furious at the blond, but she did miss his stupid face from time to time. Her pride, however, forbade her from running to him with open arms - she was still waiting for an apology or something similar.

Before Draco had even attempted to speak to her thought, Snape burst through the door and strode in like he usually did, making Elizabeth turn to the front and straighten. Malfoy sighed and turned to the front as well. With a wave of his wand, Snape wordlessly sent out the O.W.L. examination timetable to every student in the classroom who immediately began nervously scanning its entirety.

"As you can see," he said slowly, expecting all the parchment sounds to stop, "your O.W.L.s are spread out over two successive weeks. Theory exams are in the morning, practical exams are in the afternoon, and Astronomy will take place, obviously, at night." Snape paused and swatted the back of a Hufflepuff's head for whispering.

"Need I remind you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your papers; Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Rememberalls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self-Correcting Ink - I should hope that my Slytherins aren't that stupid. For the rest of you... it is none of my concern."

A few Hufflepuff students dared to glare at Snape, but immediately stopped when he looked in their direction.

"Our new - Headmistress -" Professor said this quite contemptuously "- has asked the Heads of House to tell all their students that cheating will be punished most severely, however that was unnecessary since it should already be burned into your thick skulls." A Slytherin raised their hand. "Vaisey."

"When will we receive our O.W.L. results?"

"An owl will be sent to you some time in July."

The rest of the class was destined for practical Potions. Everyone seemed thankful that Snape had put somewhat more detailed instructions on the board as if to help them, but it didn't much matter as the Hufflepuffs still seemed to fail all attempts at brewing a Strengthening Solution or an 'Acceptable' Draught of Peace. During the entire time that Elizabeth was brewing her potion, Draco tried to talk to her, but he was always unsuccessful: she'd add an ingredient to her cauldron, making it hiss and drown out the boy's voice; she'd look at him and blink stupidly before going back to modifying her textbook or Elizabeth would simply pretend to not hear him. At the end of class however, it was harder to get away from him.

"Elizabeth, would you quit ignoring me!" he called from behind her as she climbed the stairs and made for the Great Hall. "Hey - at least wait for me!" He soon caught up with Ellie and stood in front of her, blocking her passage. "I need to talk to you."

"Ready to admit that your father is an idiotic bigot who's been feeding you lies about,, well, everything?"

"Not about that-"

"Then sorry, supper awaits," Elizabeth said sharply then smiled at Amir who was behind Draco. "Hey, Ramses, over here!"

* * *

Elizabeth and Amir's timetables coincided perfectly with those of Hermione, Harry and Ron. Their first examination, Theory of Charms, was on Monday morning. The Quintet, including Amir and Elizabeth, had gathered in Gryffindor Tower that morning for some last minute studying. Amir agreed to quiz Rose, and Rose agreed to quiz Amir; all went well. However, when Harry tried to quiz Hermione, he ended up with a book in the face because she was so nervous. Meanwhile, Ron was reading two years worth of Charms notes with his fingers in his ears and his mouth moving soundlessly to the words on the pages; Seamus Finnigan was lying flat on his back on the floor, reciting the definition of a Substantive Charm, while Dean Thomas checked it out in the Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5; and Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown, who were practising basic Locomotion Charms, made their pencil cases zoom across the floor of the Common Room.

At breakfast, none of the fifth years seemed to be talking much, save Amir and Elizabeth who were still quizzing each other off the tops of their heads, causing wrong answers, or stupid answers, to be met with laughter. This turned quite a few heads. Amir never really noticed it, but Rose did: almost every time the Egyptian would smile, laugh or simply say something, about a dozen female heads turned in his direction. It was quite obvious that the boy was attractive with his swarthy skin and dark chocolate eyes, but it baffled Liz how he could be so ignorant about the girls fawning over him. She let out a small quiet chuckle. Elizabeth recalled the memory she wasn't supposed to have seen, and thought that Amir's laid-back and casual attitude reminded her of Sirius Black when he was in school; Sirius didn't seem to notice that girls were fawning over him as well.

The first exam arrived sooner rather than later. As she remembered from Snape's memory, all the House tables had been removed and were replaced by hundreds of tables all facing the same direction. When all the students were seated and quiet, one of the examination supervisors told them they could begin and Elizabeth immediately flipped over her parchment and began to write. The incantation and movement of the Levitation Charm? That's too easy, Elizabeth thought, smiling a little at the memory of a club falling on a mountain troll's head in a girl's bathroom. Luckily, the exam was easy and Elizabeth had finished just as a professor called time and summoned the parchments. Naturally, upon exiting the Great Hall, Hermione and Elizabeth went through the exam together to see if they'd gotten the same answers. After all, they still had their wits in common.

After lunch (the four House tables had been returned to the Great Hall by then), they went off to a small chamber beside the Great Hall to await their turn to take their practical examination. Liz looked around at all the nervous and panicked students and mentally thanked Snape's Occlumency lessons for helping her control her emotions. As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practised wand movements, occasionally poking themselves or others in the eye by mistake. Much to Elizabeth's annoyance, she was called as Elizabeth R. Granger but rose anyhow and went into the room, hearing Hermione anxious voice saying: "She'll be fine, I'll be fine, we'll all be fine." Inside, professor Flitwick directed her towards someone who seemed to be the oldest and baldest wizard she'd ever seen who was sitting behind a table in the far left corner of the room, opposite to a woman examining Pansy Parkinson.

"Granger is it? Would you prefer Evans?" Elizabeth nodded smiling a little. "The famous Evans."

Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth distinctly saw Parkinson throw a scathing look in her direction making the wine glass she was levitating fall to the floor and shatter into a million pieces. She couldn't suppress a smile; the old professor smiled back encouragingly.

"That's it, no need to be nervous. Now, if you could take this egg cup and make it do cartwheels for me."

All in all, Elizabeth's examination went swimmingly. Her egg cup did its cartwheels, the rat she was supposed to turn green did in fact turn green, she properly summoned an empty vial and successfully made it grow to the right size with her Growth Charm. Ron hadn't done so well however: he had caused a dinner plate to mutate into a large mushroom and had no idea how it happened. Even Amir, who was only decent in Charms, managed to do better than Ron.

The next morning, everyone was panicking because of the Transfiguration exams. Elizabeth managed to remember all her spells and incantations for Theory of Transfiguration, and succeeded in completely vanishing her iguana (unlike Hannah Abbott who managed to multiply her ferret into a flock of flamingos), turning her owl into opera glasses and doubling a teacup. On Wednesday was their Herbology exam (Elizabeth thankfully didn't get bitten by a Fanged Geranium) and on Thursday was their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. examination. Ellie was sure she had passed this one considering that she'd studied the books and performed the spells for the D.A. meetings rather often. Beyond that, she seemed to have a knack for it. She also took particular pleasure, during the practical exam, in performing all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells right in front of Umbridge, who was angrily standing in the corner of the classroom.

"Oh, bravo!" the same old professor that had examined Liz's Charms test cheered. "Very good, indeed! Well, I think that's all, Evans... unless..." he leaned forward a little. "I heard from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that you can produce a Patronus... for a bonus point?"

Elizabeth nodded and looked over at Umbridge. She raised her wand and imagined the Headmistress getting sacked before calling out 'Expecto Patronum'. Her silver doe erupted from the tip of her wand and cantered the length of the Hall. All of the examiners looked around to watch its progress and when it dissolved into a mist, Ellie examiner clapped his hands enthusiastically. The satisfied smirk that played on the girl's lips as she passed Umbridge couldn't have made the woman more angry.

Elizabeth, Amir and Hermione, while Harry and Ron had a day off, went to their Ancient Runes exam on Friday. However the boys' happy mood was interrupted by a furious Hermione. Amir and Elizabeth were standing a few paces behind her.

"Hermione, it is just one mistake," Amir tried to calm her.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"I mis-translated ehwaz," Hermione said furiously. "It means partnership, not defense; I mixed it up with eihwaz."

"Look, Amir's right, Hermione; it's just one mistake. You still get-"

"Oh shut up! It could be the one mistake that makes a difference between a pass or a fail, Ronald. And what's worse, someone's put another Niffler in Umbridge's office."

"Good," the three boys chorused.

"It's not good! She thinks it's Hagrid doing it, remember? And we do not want Hagrid chucked out!" Hermione said hotly.

"He's teaching right now, she'll know it's not him," Harry reasoned.

"Oh, you're so naive sometimes, Harry. You really think Umbridge will wait for proof?

The girl stormed off and up to the girls' dormitory, seemingly determined to be in a towering temper.

"Such a lovely, sweet-tempered girl," Ron said sarcastically, making everyone chuckle.

"She is almost as terrifying as you when you are mad, Rose," Amir added with a smirk. She swatted his arm.

"Shut up, you knob."

Hermione's bad mood persisted during most of the weekend, though Harry, Ron, Elizabeth and Amir found it quite easy to ignore because, as pointed out by Liz herself, Hermione didn't go around threatening to hex people like she did. Everyone, save Elizabeth, spent most of Saturday and Sunday studying for their Potions examination on Monday, the exam which Ellie had been most looking forward to. Sure enough, she found it incredibly easy: Liz was expecting full marks on all the definitions, uses and properties of the draughts they'd made and their ingredients, especially the question regarding Polyjuice Potion as she had made it and seen it's effects first hand in her second year. The afternoon practical was even more easy according to her, but she was disappointed that Professor Snape wasn't there to survey as she would have like him to see her perfectly brew her Draught of Peace. Unfortunately, most students failed to do so which resulted in their cauldron emitting green sparks, dark grey smoke, a sulfurous smell or causing it to explode like Seamus' did.

Everyone wanted to pass Care of Magical Creatures to not let Hagrid down. The practical examination, much to Elizabeth's horror required for students to identify a Knarl amongst a dozen hedgehogs who went berserk if you approached them with milk; then demonstrate correct handling of a sharp-fingered Bowtruckle; feed and clean out a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns or other various injuries; and choose from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give a sick Unicorn. It surprisingly wasn't that bad considering that she herself didn't get burned by the Fire Crabs or stabbed by the Bowtruckles pointy fingers. Elizabeth saw Hagrid in his hut, giving them a quick thumbs up, but this happiness was short lived.

That same morning their Astronomy exam went quite well, and that night, around eleven, everyone marched up to the Astronomy tower. It was a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight and there was a slight chill in the air. Each student set up their telescope and, when the examiner gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blanks in the star-chart they were given. As Elizabeth completed her star-chart by finishing up the constellation Orion, however, the front doors of the castle opened up and light spilled onto the steps a little way across the lawn. Elizabeth glanced down as she made a slight adjustment to the position of her telescope and saw that five or so elongated shadows were moving across the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and everything became dark once more. If they had not been moving, and the moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their heads, they would have been indistinguishable from the dark ground on which they walked. Even at this distance, Elizabeth had the funny feeling she recognised the walk of the squattest of them, who seemed to be leading the group. Umbridge, she thought immediately. She heard a distant knock followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog. The lights that usually came from the windows of Hagrid's hut were blocked by shadowy figures and when the door opened, six figures vanished inside and the door closed again. Elizabeth had a very bad feeling about this. Looking around her, she noticed that the examiners were on the other side of the room so she took the opportunity to kick Harry in the leg. Quickly, he looked over at her. As she nodded in the hut's direction and Harry confirmed that he was watching too. Liz then looked at everyone else, and as the examiner called 'twenty minutes to go', no one tore their eyes off of Hagrid's hut. Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the grounds. Elizabeth looked back at the hut. Hagrid's door burst open and out he came with six people surrounding him, wands alight in red; they were attempting to Stun him. No one was paying attention to their star-charts anymore as jets of red light began flying around Hagrid, each seemingly bouncing off him. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds, and Fang stopped barking as a Stunning Spell hit him. Just then Professor McGonagall came outside, screaming.

"Leave him alone! Alone, I say! On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such-"

Everyone gasped. The figures around the cabin had shot no less than four Stunning Spells at McGonagall, causing her to lift off her feet and land hard on her back. She wasn't moving. Even the examiners weren't paying attention to their own exam, but were now looking scandalised at the scene unfolding below them. Hagrid began yelling and shouting, knocking people down. Liz heard Umbridge yell something, then aim another spell at the Half-Giant but missed; and Hagrid, running full-pelt towards the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.


	92. Blood Like Acid

That night, Elizabeth and Amir didn't even bother going back to the Dungeons. Instead, they followed Harry, Hermione and Ron up to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was used to seeing them there, so she didn't object as Ellie gave her the password to enter. Everyone one of them made for the sofas in front of the fireplace and sat down, thoroughly exhausted, angry and sad. It was nearing one in the morning, but the conversation was still heated as the five friends continued to discuss the events that had just unfolded; Hagrid was gone and McGonagall was in the hospital wing.

"That evil woman!" Hermione said, scandalized and so angry that she seemed to have difficulty speaking properly. "Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!"

"She clearly wanted to avoid another disturbance, unlike with Professor Trelawney," Amir said, squeezing beside Elizabeth.

"Hagrid did well, didn't he?" Ron said, looking more alarmed than impressed. "How come all those spells bounced off him?"

"It'll be his Giant blood," Elizabeth muttered. "It's very hard to Stun a Giant, they're really tough."

"But Professor McGonagall... four Stunners straight to the chest, and she's not exactly young is she?" Hermione said shakily.

"Dreadful," Amir sighed.

"At least they didn't take Hagrid off to Azkaban," Ron considered. "I guess he's gone to join Dumbedore, hasn't he?"

"I suppose so," Hermione said, tearful. "Oh, this is awful! I really though Dumbledore would be back before long, but now we've lost Hagrid too."

It was nearly four in the morning when the Common Room cleared up. Amir and Elizabeth decided it would be best if they stayed in Gryffindor Tower as to not get caught by Filch or any Inquisitorial Squad members who now had the right to stay up past curfew. The next morning, Liz woke up on her stomach, face buried in one of the sofa's cushions, a blanket lazily draped over her. She turned her head and saw that Amir had fallen asleep in an armchair, his head limply falling back onto the headrest. It took only a few seconds for her to wake him up, and they went down to breakfast and waited for the other three to arrive.

No one who had an Astronomy exam last night was in any shape to continue their examinations this morning. They were all lacking several hours of sleep and feared that Umbridge might start Stunning other staff members, so they avoided eye contact and ran in the opposite direction whenever she was approaching. The worst part was that Elizabeth and Amir were to endure one and a half hours of exam time on the fascinating subject of History of Magic, a subject that Elizabeth hated and wasn't particularly good at. Luckily, she managed to give the definitions of all historical terms; was able to describe the events of the Goblin Riots of the Eighteenth Century and the reasons why the Warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join the International Confederation of Wizards; but got confused about a few dates and important names. However, that wasn't the worst part.

Nearly at the end of the examination, the scar on Elizabeth's lips began to burn immensely. Hissing in pain, she bit the inside of her cheek and tried to ignore it, continuing with her examination. A few moments later, she could feel something poking around in her mind, like an itch she couldn't scratch. The girl put her quill down and breathed out, trying to calm herself but to no avail. Instead, she bit down harder on the inside of her cheek and clamped her eyes shut. Soon, she - and someone else - began yelling. Then, as she rose from her seat, blood dripping from her lips, she collapsed to the ground after successfully forcing You-Know-Who out of her head... Elizabeth woke about an hour later in the hospital wing, head throbbing incessantly. There was an empty glass next to her cot and a bottle of familiar blue liquid beside it. Sitting on chairs around her were Amir, Harry, Ron and Hermione, all looking positively panicked. Hermione spoke first, clearly the most agitated of the four.

"Elizabeth are you all right? What happened?"

"It's Him..."

"What?" Amir gasped.

"He tried to get in my head..." Elizabeth sat up. "I didn't let him... Harry? Did he-"

"Yeah. He's got Sirius," the boy said angrily, "in the Department of Mysteries at the Ministry."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Tell me about it," Hermione interjected. "And Harry wants to go find him."

"Harry, we can't. There isn't even a shred of evidence that puts those two there. Besides," Liz said quietly, "who's to say You-Know-Who didn't plant this vision in your head, and tried to in mine?"

"Lizzie's right, Harry. Voldemort - shut up, Ron - knows that your weakness is Sirius... what if he's trying to lure you there?" Hermione suggested.

"IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN-"

"Remus and Sirius told us that there was nothing more important than us learning to close our minds! Nothing!" Elizabeth said sternly.

"WELL, I EXPECT HE'D SAY SOMETHING DIFFERENT IF HE KNEW WHAT I'D JUST-"

The hospital wing door opened. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Amir whipped around to see Ginny and Luna, who as usual, looked as if she'd drifted in accidentally.

"Hi," Ginny said uncertainly. "We recognized Harry's voice. What are you yelling about?"

"Never you mind," Harry said roughly. Ginny raised her eyebrows.

"There's no need to take that tone with me," she said coolly. "I was only wondering whether we could help."

"Well, you can't."

"You're being rather rude," Luna said serenely.

"Wait," Hermione said suddenly. "Wait... Harry, they can help."

One moment Elizabeth was lying in bed, drinking blue sludge to heal up the bite marks inside her mouth, and the next she, was hurrying down the same path she did the last time she tried to communicate with Sirius. However, this time it wasn't just her and Harry; Ginny, Luna, Hermione, Amir and Ron had come too. Ginny and Luna were to be the lookouts if anyone came near (they would tell people not to come this way since someone released some Garroting Gas in the corridor), Amir and Ron would go over to Peeves and tell him to start smashing stuff to cause a distraction, and Harry, Liz and Hermione would go inside to try and talk to Sirius... if he was even there. If anyone should arrive during the time they were in Umbridge's office, someone would start singing the chorus of Weasley is Our King.

Their heads engulfed in green flames, Harry and Elizabeth's eyes soon gazed upon the same dusty table legs and floor of Grimmauld Place's kitchen. No one was there, but when Harry cried out for Sirius, Kreacher, his house elf, came into view. Both siblings began to panic when Kreacher said that Sirius had gone "out". Out where, he wouldn't say, but he definitely knew something about the Department of Mysteries because when Harry mentioned it, the elf stopped in his tracks. However, they had no time to question Kreacher further as both of them were pulled back from the fire. Coughing out the ash they'd breathed in, Harry and Elizabeth turned around and spotted Umbridge mere inches from themselves along with a few members of the Inquisitorial Squad.

"You think," she whispered dangerously, "that after two Nifflers I was going to let one more foul creature into my office without my knowledge? I had Stealth Sensoring Spells placed all around the doorway after the last one got in, you foolish children. Take their wands!" Umbridge barked at one of the students. "Hers too!"

Elizabeth knew Hermione had just gotten her wand taken away, but she couldn't tell by whom since Umbridge was pulling hers and her brother's hair so hard that their heads leaned back and necks were cramped.

"I want to know why you are in my office," Umbridge said, shaking her fists so that the siblings staggered.

"We were trying to get our brooms back!" Harry croaked.

"Liar!" She shook their heads again. "Your brooms are now under strict guard in the Dungeons, as you very well know, Potter. You two had your heads in my fire - who were you communicating with."

"No one!"

"Liar!"

Umbridge threw Harry and Elizabeth from her hands and they slammed into the desk. Now they could see Hermione pinned against the wall by Millicent Bulstrode. Elizabeth's impassive face rapidly changed however, when her green eyes locked with the icy grey ones of Draco Malfoy. Looking over at Harry, he seemed quite amused, but when he noticed Elizabeth looking at him and he looked back, Liz saw his breath hitch in his throat. She saw the instantaneous look of fear and guilt wash over his features, a look which no one but her had seen. For him to let that loose in front of all these people was extraordinary, but Ella - his Ella - was so blind with rage that she never noticed anything besides the look of amusement on his face when he looked at Harry.

Just then, there was a commotion outside and several large Slytherins entered, each gripping Ron, Amir, Ginny, Luna - and to Elizabeth's bewilderment - Neville, who was trapped in a stranglehold by Crabbe. All five of them had been gagged.

"Got 'em all," said Warrington, shoving Ron into the room. "That one," he pointed a thick finger at Neville, "was trying to stop me from taking her," he pointed at Ginny who was trying the kick her captor in the shins, "so I brought 'im along too."

"Good, good," Umbridge said then turned to the Inquisitorial Squad. "Well, it looks as though Hogwarts will finally be a Weasley-free zone."

Most of them laughed, but under the glare of the person he cared most about in this room, Draco didn't, much to everyone else's surprise and Parkinson's annoyance. Umbridge, however, took no notice.

"So, Potter, Granger," she said said, emphasizing Elizabeth's original name. "You stationed lookouts around my office and you sent these buffoons," she nodded at Ron and Amir, "to tell me the poltergeist was wreaking havoc in the Transfiguration department when I knew perfectly well that those two had just told him to - Mr Filch having just informed me so.

"Clearly it was very important that you speak with somebody. Was it Albus Dumbledore? Of the half-breed, Hagrid? I doubt it was Minerva McGonagall, I hear she's still too ill to talk to anyone."

"It's none of your business who we talk to," Harry snarled. Umbridge's face tightened as she turned to Elizabeth.

"And you, Elizabeth... who were you speaking to?"

Elizabeth didn't say anything. Instead, she moved her burning glare from Malfoy and placed it on Umbridge for a moment before returning it to the blond. If anything, Harry's anger was amusing to her, but Liz's silence? That she couldn't handle.

"Very well," she said in her most dangerously sweet voice, "I offered you two the chance to tell me freely, but you refused. I have no alternative but to force you. Draco - fetch Professor Snape."

"Professor Umbridge, are you sure-"

"Do it now!"

The boy glanced at Elizabeth who gave him the smallest of nods possible. He frowned for a split second but left to fetch their Head of House. Surely Harry had forgotten, but Ellie hadn't forgotten that he was part of the Order of the Phoenix and could definitely be trusted with absolutely anything. Soon, Snape and Malfoy came back, breaking the uncomfortably tense silence that filled the pink office.

"You wished to see me Headmistress?" Snape said, looking around at the struggling students with a look of utmost indifference.

"Ah, Professor Snape," Umbridge said, smiling widely, "Yes, I would like another bottle of Veritaserum, as quick you can, please!"

"You took my last bottle to interrogate Potter and Miss Evans. Surely you did not use it all? I told you that three drops would be sufficient."

Elizabeth then realised that Snape must have done something to the Veritaserum, something to remove its normal odorless quality. Umbridge flushed the same colour as her office.

"You can make some more, can't you?" she said, her voice becoming more and more sweetly girlish as it always did when she was furious. Elizabeth couldn't help but crack a little smile. "Why are you smiling!?"

"Because she knows that I can make some, but that it takes a full moon-cycle to mature," Snape said coolly. "She won't be ingesting Veritaserum for at least another month."

"A month?" Umbridge squawked. "A month? But I need it this evening, Snape! I have just found these two using my fire to communicate with persons or a person unknown."

"Really?" Snape said, showing his first sign of interest as he looked round at Elizabeth. "Well, it doesn't surprise me. Potter has never shown much inclination to follow school rules and always seems to get his sister involved."

"I wish to interrogate them!" Umbridge shouted angrily, making Snape look away from his Slytherin student and back into her quivering face. "I wish you to provide me with a potion that will force them to tell me the truth!"

"I don't appreciate you wanting to interrogate my student," Snape said smoothly casting a side glance at Elizabeth. "And as I said, I have no further stocks of Veritaserum. Unless you wish to poison Potter - and I assure you that I would have the greatest sympathy if you did - I cannot help you. The only trouble is that most venoms act too fast to give the victim much time for truth telling."

"You're on probation!" Umbridge shrieked. Snape looked at her, eyebrows slightly raised. "You are being deliberately unhelpful! I expected better, Lucius Malfoy always speaks most highly of you! Now, get out of my office!"

Snape gave her an ironic bow and turned to leave. Elizabeth and Harry knew that this was their last chance to try and communicate the situation to him, so Harry yelled the first thing that came to his mind.

"He's got Padfoot! He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden!"

Snape had stopped with his hand on Umbridge's door handle.

"Padfoot?" Umbridge said eagerly, looking from Harry and Elizabeth to Snape. "What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What does he mean, Snape?"

Professor Snape looked round at the siblings. His face was inscrutable, as usual, and Elizabeth hadn't the faintest idea whether he'd understood or not, but she didn't dare speak and make Harry's announcement more plain in front of Dolores Umbridge.

"I have no idea," Snape said coldly. "Potter, when I want nonsense shouted at me I shall give you a Babbling Beverage. And Crabbe, loosen your hold a little. If Longbottom suffocates it will mean a lot of tedious paperwork and I am afraid I shall have to mention it on your reference if you ever apply for a job."

With a pointed look at Elizabeth, Snape closed the door behind him with a snap, leaving the siblings wondering if that pointed look was his understanding or a warning. Harry and Elizabeth looked over at Umbridge whose chest was heaving up and down with frustration.

"Very well," Umbridge said, pulling out her wand. "Very well... I am left with no alternative... this is more than a matter of school discipline... this is an issue of Ministry security... yes... yes..."

She seemed to be talking herself into something, but what, nobody knew. Shifting her weight from foot to foot, she stared at the siblings, beating her wand against the empty palm of her hand. Elizabeth looked at her, feeling quite powerless without her own wand. Then, as Umbridge was muttering about having no choice and that the Minister would be on her side, Liz understood and took a cautious step back; Warrington pushed her back into place. Draco looked over to her, confused. She looked back at him, no longer angry, but scared. It didn't show much, but Malfoy could tell she was terrified.

"The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongues..." she said quietly, then pointed her wand at Elizabeth. "Ladies first."

"No!" Hermione shrieked. "Professor Umbridge - it's illegal."

But Umbridge took no notice. There was a nasty, eager, excited look on her face that none of the students in the room had seen before, and it contrasted Amir and Draco's looks of horror.

"The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, would he, Professor!" Hermione cried.

"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him," Umbridge said, now pointing different parts of Elizabeth's body as if trying to determine which place would hurt more. "He never knew I ordered Dementors to go after these two last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him."

"It was you?" Harry gasped. "You sent the Dementors after us?"

"Somebody had to act," Umbridge breathed, as her wand came to point directly at Liz's heart. "They were all bleating about about silencing you two somehow - but I was the one who actually did something about it... only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you? Not today though, not now..." She took a deep breath. "Cruc-"

"NO!" Hermione, Harry and Draco shouted, though the latter's voice was buried by the others.

"Well, then... Cruci-"

"Wait!" Elizabeth said, raising her hands up in surrender. "Wait... Please, I'll tell you."

"Rove, no!" Amir shouted through his gag.

"Well, well, well," Umbridge said looking triumphant. "Looks like a Slytherin's self-preservation triumphs over loyalty."

Everyone was looking at Elizabeth as though they'd never seen her before. She knew that Ron was thinking that he should never have trusted a Slytherin in the first place, and that the rest were scandalised by her betrayal. Even Draco was surprised to hear her turn on her friends after she always fought him so much about him respecting them.

"Now then... with whom were you and your brother communicating with just now?" Umbridge asked, seizing the girl and thrusting her into one of the empty chairs in her office.

"We were attempting to speak with Dumbledore."

Amir froze, his eyes wide; Ginny stopped trying to stomp on her captor's toes; and even Luna looked mildly surprised. Fortunately, Umbridge and her minions were focused exclusively on Elizabeth and didn't notice anything suspicious.

"Dumbledore? You where he is then?"

"No. But we were trying to find him to tell him something important."

"Yes?" the Headmistress said with a surge of excitement. "What was it you wanted to tell him?"

"We wanted to tell him that..." Elizabeth sighed, then continued in a whisper, a smile creeping onto her face. "You're a raving lunatic, Dolores."

With a scream that was almost inhuman, Umbridge struck Elizabeth across the face, knocking her to the ground. Draco took a step forward, making to run to her, but he was held back by Pansy. Liz, letting out a chuckle, tried to stand and wiped the small sliver of blood that was trickling down her lip. No one heard what she had said, but they all knew that the girl hadn't continued with the lie they expected her to say - they knew she'd insulted the Headmistress. Just as she got up and looked at Umbridge, the woman pointed her wand at her. The same three people screamed 'no'.

"How dare you!?"

"What? Did you really think I was going to betray my brother? Betray my friends?" Elizabeth said, almost amused. Umbridge's nostrils flared. "You did? Wow... Talk about despera-"

Quicker than Elizabeth had anticipated, Umbridge shouted 'Crucio' and a jet of bright red light hit her directly in the chest, sending her now limp body falling to the ground. The pain was so intense, so all-consuming, that the girl no longer knew where she was, who was with her, where she was... White hot knives were piercing every inch of her skin, her head was surely going to burst with pain and it was as if her own blood had become acid, eating her from the inside out; she was screaming more loudly than she'd ever screamed in her life. The Killing Curse would surely be mercy to her. All she could do was writhe and squirm and fold herself in two as the pain ran through her veins and seeped into into each and every one of her pores. Then, suddenly, she ceased screaming and all was as black as Death himself.


	93. The Department of Mysteries

Elizabeth didn't know when or where she'd woken up. All she knew is that it felt as if she were floating, light as a feather. She felt as if she were immobile, yet wind was softly brushing her pale skin. Suddenly, she felt cold, as if she were being dropped in the Black Lake at the beginning of spring. Soon and with great difficulty, Elizabeth opened her eyes and was met with darkness. She turned her head and saw something shining bright above her: it was the moon. A few moments later, she realised that she was no longer in Umbridge's office being tortured with the Cruciatus Curse, which happened to be the last thing she remembered. She tried to move. The wind stopped. She heard voices.

"Everyone! Rose is awake!"

Elizabeth felt her feet touch the ground, but she couldn't stand. Arms were hooked underneath her shoulders, supporting a major part of her weight. Just then, everything became clearer. Liz was being held up by Amir and Neville; Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Ron and Luna were all standing in front her looking both panicked and relieved. Where they were, Liz could only imagine.

"Where are we?"

"The Forbidden Forest," Hermione said quietly. "Are you feeling all right?"

"I think so," Elizabeth replied and tried to stand on her own. She was successful. "Why are we here? Where's that stupid cow?"

"After you insulted Umbridge and got well... you know, I picked up where you left off and pretended that there was a weapon hidden in the forest."

"Grawp?" Ellie said, still hazy.

"Yeah, and then Centaurs came and she got dragged off and then Grawp started smashing Centaurs-" Ron was interrupted by Hermione clearing her throat. "Well, all you need to know is that the old toad is gone."

"This is amazing and all, but what are we to do next?" Amir asked, eyeing Elizabeth, afraid that she'd collapse any moment.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Harry said.

"Wait, how did you guys even get away?" Elizabeth asked, sitting down on a nearby tree stump.

"Couple of Stunning Spells from me," Ron said, handing her Liz her wand, "a nice Impediment Jinx from Neville, but Ginny was the best - hit Malfoy with a beautiful Bat-Bogey Hex."

"I really hesitated though!" Ginny said, seeing Elizabeth's expression. "You should've seen him when Umbridge hit you with the Cruciatus Curse... I'd never seen him so angry before; and he nearly punched Pansy in the face for holding him back after Umbridge, Hermione and Harry left to the forest."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say the prat really cares for you," Ron said almost disdainfully. Elizabeth's stomach gave a leap.

"Yeah, well, what goes on between Draco and I is none of your concern," Elizabeth said.

Thank Merlin, was all she could think of in that moment. The thought of Draco nearly punching Pansy in the face because of her and showing his anger to Umbridge was the near-apology she was looking for. Of course he still cared about her, and the best part was that he showed it in front of everyone, not caring about what the others said. But maybe that was beautified a little...

"Anyways..." Ron said airily. "Has You-Know-Who got Sirius or-?"

"Yes, he does. But I still can't see how we're going to get there," Harry said.

"Well, we'll have to fly won't we?" Luna said in the most matter-of-fact voice Elizabeth had ever heard her use.

"Okay," Harry said irritably, "but 'we' aren't doing anything if you're including yourself in that. Just me and Liz."

"Excuse me, but we all care what happens to Sirius," Ginny said, jaw clenched so that her resemblance to Fred and George was striking.

"You're too-"

"Young? I'm three years older than you were when you fought You-Know-Who for the Philospher's Stone."

"Besides," Neville said quietly, "we were all in the D.A. together. It was all supposed to be about fighting You-Know-Who, wasn't it? And this is the first chance we've had to do something real - or was that all just a game or something?"

"Neville's right," Elizabeth said much to his surprise. "Yes, I'm agreeing with you, Neville."

"Oh, okay, nice..."

"That's great and all, but how are we supposed to get there?" Harry said, even more angry.

"I thought we'd settled that," Luna said. "We're flying!"

"But we don't have enough broomsticks-"

"There are other ways to fly other than broomsticks," Liz said, rising from her stump-seat and looking into the clearing ahead. "Harry, what about them?"

Harry whirled around. Standing between two trees, their white eyes gleaming eerily, were three Thestrals, watching the whispered conversation as thought they understood every word.

"Yes! Elizabeth you're brilliant!"

"Is those mad horse things?" Ron said uncertainly. "Those ones you can't see unless you've seen someone snuff it?"

"Yeah."

"How many?"

"Three."

An argument burst out on how not everyone could go. Elizabeth remained quiet, annoyed that they were arguing about who could go to a sheer death experience or stay here and pretend like everything was okay. And every moment they spent arguing was a moment where Sirius might be closer and closer to death. Liz then noticed something.

"Look, you imbecilic children," she began, irritated, "There are three Thestrals now, but more will arrive. Because what attracts Thestrals? Blood, that's right, Ginny; Hermione, Harry, I don't know if you've noticed but you're covered in it, which is why there are now eight instead of three." Harry turned to look and he sighed. "Everyone, pick one and let's get our arses to the Department of Mysteries."

* * *

It took a while for everyone to get on their "invisible" horses, but once they did, they were flying over Hogwarts castle and then the rest of Scotland. Elizabeth could see mountains and gullies below her as she tightly clutched the silky black mane of the Thestral. As daylight began to fade, the girl saw small collections of lights as they passed over more villages and winding roads with a few cars beetling their way home through the hills. Elizabeth would have smile or let out a satisfied sigh at the beauty and peacefulness of the view and journey, but it seemed out of place at the group of eight students were off to find He Who Must Not Be Named and potentially save Sirius' life.

Yes, potentially. Because Elizabeth had blocked out You-Know-Who from entering her mind, she wasn't sure whether Harry was correct or if he was just blinded by emotion. Of course, she knew he wouldn't endanger himself and his own sister for no reason, but Elizabeth couldn't help but feel weary of the situation they were all getting themselves into. She wasn't even sure Kreacher, back at Hogwarts, was telling the truth when he said that Sirius was out. After all, Kreacher had no reason to obey Harry's orders as he was not the elf's master; Sirius could have been upstairs with Buckbeak for all Elizabeth knew.

The girl's stomach suddenly gave a jolt; the Thestral's head was suddenly pointing towards the ground and Elizabeth actually slid a few inches down the neck. They were descending at last and now bright orange lights were growing larger and rounder on all sides; she could see the tops of buildings, streams of headlights, squares of yellow that were windows. Quite suddenly, it seemed as though they were hurtling for the pavement, but at the very last second it landed as softly as a feather. Everyone else landed beside her and seemed to be grateful for that. Then they all marched towards a telephone box and got inside. How the eight of them fit inside was a mystery. Elizabeth dialed six two four four two, remembering the number from when she visited this Ministry for her hearing.

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state your name and business," said a cool female voice.

"Harry Potter, Elizabeth Evans, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Amir Ferran, Neville Longbottom," Harry said quickly, "and we're here to save someone unless the Ministry does it first."

"Thank you," the woman said. "Visitors, please take the badges and attach them to your front robes."

Eight badges slit out of the chute where returned coins usually fell and Hermione grabbed then and handed one to everyone. They each had someone's name and 'Rescue Mission' written afterwards. Liz pinned hers to her robes. Just then, the box's floor began to lower down into the ground and they sank down to the depths of the Ministry. It was darker than the last time Elizabeth and Harry were here; there were no fires burning under the many Floo Network mantelpieces set into the walls, but she noticed thousands of golden symbols twist on the dark blue walls and ceilings.

Now, it was all up to Harry. He was the one who kept having the dream about the Department of Mysteries, so he was the one who had to lead seven other children along the dark and deserted hallways of the Ministry. Each and every one of them had their wand out in front of them, ready to jinx, hex or curse anyone who meant them harm.

They got out of the lift that brought them down to the right floor, where nothing was moving but the nearest torches flickering in the rush of the lift. Harry turned towards a plain black door and opened it. Everyone was standing in a large circular room. Everything in here was blacker than Professor Snape; the floors, the walls, the ceiling, handles, doorknobs and even the occasional candle was black. Just as Elizabeth was gazing ahead, she noticed about a dozen doors. Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling sound and it seemed, that the wall of doors was rotating. For a few seconds, the blue flames coming from the black candles were blurred to resemble neon lines as the wall sped around; then, quite abruptly, everything was still again.

"What was that for?" Ron asked fearfully.

"I think it is to prevent us from knowing which door we entered through," Amir said in a hushed voice.

"How're we going to get back out?" Neville said uncomfortably.

"Well, that doesn't matter now," Harry said forcefully. "We won't need to get out 'til we find Sirius-"

"Don't go calling for him though," Hermione said urgently.

"Yeah, it's not like he's a dog or anything," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "Oh, wait..."

"Liz!"

"Not even sorry."

The students moved forward and, not knowing which door to go through anymore, tried a few. The first room they entered had an enormous glass tank filled with brains and the second, after Hermione had marked the door with an 'X', was a very dark room with a large archway so cracked, Elizabeth was amazed it was still standing. What really confused her however, was the rippling black veil that was hanging inside it, despite the stillness of the air. Harry called out, but there was no answer. However, he walked in and down to the bottom of the sunken pit. Elizabeth made to follow, out of curiosity, but Amir gently grasped her arm and he shook his head; he was certainly her voice of reason at the moment. When they left and regained the circular room, the next door they tried was locked. Liz's Alohomora was useless and so was Sirius' knife, so they moved on to the next room. Harry was persuaded this was the one.

Beautiful dancing diamond-sparkling light nearly blinded them as they entered. As Elizabeth's eyes became accustomed to the glare, she saw clocks gleaming from every surface, large and small, grandfather and cuckoo, hanging in places between bookshelves or standing on desks, so that busy, relentless ticking filled the place like thousands of marching footsteps. Elizabeth's eyes kept darting everywhere as Harry lead the way down the narrow space between the lines of desks, all the way to yet another black door.

"This is it," Harry said, glancing back at all his nervous friends, wands at the ready.

The boy then looked back at the door and pushed. It opened. Liz let out a breath she didn't realise she was holding as she entered another dark room. It was as high as a church and filled with nothing but towering shelves of small, dusty, glass orbs. They glimmered dully in the little light from candle-brackets set at intervals on said shelves. Harry said they were looking for row ninety-seven and so, they all crept forward, glancing at the shelves. Fifty-four, fifty-five, fifty-six... It seemed to be getting colder the further down they went. Seventy-two, seventy-three, seventy-four... Amir grasped Elizabeth's hand, worried. Ninety-five, ninety-six...

"Ninety-seven!" Hermione whispered from ahead. Everyone gathered around her.

"He's right down at the end," Harry said. "You can't see properly from here, but Sirius is there."

Wands raised and faces set in terrified determination, the group of students walked forward down the towering rows of glass balls, some of which, Elizabeth noticed, still glowed, as if a last flicker of light remained on a candle remained to be blown out. She looked forward and try to get a glimpse of Sirius, but she was getting nervous; they were nearly at the end of the row and there wasn't the slightest indication of the man being there. Elizabeth wanted him to be safe, but if he wasn't there that meant they'd been lead here... and that was worse. At the end of the row, Hermione looked back at everyone.

"I don't think Sirius is here."

Nobody spoke. Elizabeth feared the worst. Harry had been duped, You-Know-Who had tried to dupe her. The girl's grip on Amir's hand tightened and he knew that something was definitely wrong, more wrong than everyone else thought. She kept quiet even as Harry began to run up and down the rows of glass orbs, searching for his Godfather. She even kept quiet as Harry grasped her roughly by the shoulders and asked her if You-Know-Who had gotten to her as well. Instead, she calmly replied that she had been successful with her extra lessons.

"Harry? Liz?" Ron called, temporarily snapping Harry out of his anger.

"What?" he replied.

"Have you seen this? It's - it's got your names on it."

Elizabeth and Harry moved closer to Ron who was pointing at one of the small glass orbs on the shelves. It glowed with a dull inner light, thought it was very dusty and appeared to have not been touched for many years. There was a yellowish label stuck to the shelf right beneath the ball; in spidery writing was written a date of some sixteen years previously. On the orbs however, it was written something quite confusing.

 **S.P.T to A.P.W.B.D**

 **Dark Lord**

 **and (?) Potter Twins**

Elizabeth stared at it for a while until her brother made to reach for the glass ball. She reached out and stopped him, fearing that something might happen if he did. After all, no one had touched these in years for a reason.

"Don't touch it."

"Why not?" he replied. "It has something to do with us, doesn't it?"

"These things haven't been moved for a reason, Harry," Hermione reasoned.

"But it's got our names on it."

Elizabeth expected he was feeling very Gryffindor as he recklessly closed his fingers around the dusty ball's surface. Elizabeth tried to stop him and put her free hand on his. She half-expected the orb to be as cold as this room, but it wasn't. On the contrary, it felt as though the glow of light inside it was keeping it warm. Expecting, maybe even hoping something dramatic would happen because of, well, experience, Liz and her brother lifted the glass orb from its dusty shelf and stared at it. Nothing whatsoever happened, and Harry took it properly in his hand. Everyone else moved in closer, trying to take a look, as Elizabeth curiously brushed it free of the caked on dust. And then, from right behind them, a voice Elizabeth never wanted to hear again spoke.

"Very good, you two. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that... to me."


	94. The Battle Part 1

Black shapes were emerging out of thin air all around them, blocking their way left and right. Their eyes glinted through slits in hoods and a dozen wand-tips were pointed at everyone's chests. As Ginny gave a gasp of horror, Elizabeth released Amir's hand and gripped her wand tighter, instantly pointing it at the man who had spoken. Her friends all glanced at her quickly.

"To me, Potter," repeated the drawling voice of Lucius Malfoy as he held up his hand, palm up.

"You wish, Malfoy," Elizabeth spat, disgusted to be in the man's presence.

"Ah, my dear Elizabeth... Tell me, how is Draco?"

Elizabeth clenched her jaw. He knows, she thought, he recognised the ring. She glanced at the hand holding her wand, the silver snakes shining in the dim light. Malfoy gave her a signature smirk. Elizabeth's insides plummeted sickeningly. The man looked back at Harry.

"To me," he said again.

"Where's Sirius?" Harry said.

Several of the Death Eaters laughed loudly. The most pronounced laugh came from a harsh female voice, a voice Elizabeth would only attribute to Sirius' cousin, Bellatrix.

"Give me the Prophecy, Potter," Malfoy insisted.

"I want to know where Sirius is!"

"I want to know where Sirius is!" the woman to his left mimicked.

She and her fellow Death Eaters had closed in so that they were now mere feet away from the group of children, the light from their wands dazzling Elizabeth's eyes.

"You've got him," Harry said.

"Harry-"

"He's here. I know he is!" the boy continued, interrupting his sister.

"The wittle baby woke up fwightened and fought what it dweamed was twoo," the woman said in a horrible, mock baby voice. Elizabeth pointed her wand at her.

"Don't do anything," Harry muttered. "Not yet-"

"Don't tell me what to do, Harry." Elizabeth growled as the woman let out a scream of laughter.

"You hear him? You hear him? Giving instructions to his little sister as though he thinks she'll listen."

"Oh, you don't know Potter as I do, Bellatrix," Malfoy said softly. "He has a great weakness for heroics; the Dark Lord understands this about him. Elizabeth on the other hand..." Malfoy paused, examining her, "is a wild card. Now... Give me the Prophecy, Potter."

"I know Sirius is here," Harry said, clearly panicked. "I know you've got him." More Death Eaters laughed.

"Harry, it's time you learned the difference between real life and your dreams," Elizabeth said, trying to get him to understand that Sirius was not here.

"That's right," Malfoy said, almost cheerfully, "Now hand it over, or we start using our wands."

"Go on, then," Harry replied, raising his wand just like his sister. The other teenagers did the same. But the Death Eaters did not strike.

"Hand over the Prophecy and no one need get hurt," Malfoy said. It was Elizabeth's turn to laugh.

"Of course!" she said. "Harry gives you this - Prophecy, is it? And you'll just let us skip off into the sunset without a bloody scratch? Hilarious, Malfoy. I didn't know you had a sense of humour."

The woman let out a low growl and began to summon the Prophecy, but Harry was ready for that and shielded himself from her spell. Though the glass orb slipped to the tips of his fingers, Elizabeth saw that her brother was able to recover.

"Oh, he knows how to play, little bitty baby Potter," the woman said, her mad eyes staring through the slits of her hood. "Very well, then-"

"I TOLD YOU NO!" Lucius Malfoy roared. "If you smash it-!"

Elizabeth's mind was racing. The Death Eaters wanted this dusty spun-glass sphere which they said was a Prophecy? Ellie had no interest in it, surely Harry had no use for it either. But if You-Know-Who sent this many Death Eaters to retrieve such an insignificant object, maybe it wasn't as useless as she thought it was. Suddenly, Liz was pulled out of her reverie by the woman briskly stepping forward and pulling off her hood. Azkaban had hollowed Bellatrix Lestrange's face, making it gaunt and skull-like, but it was alive with a feverish, fanatical glow.

"You need more persuasion?" she said, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Very well - take the smallest one," she ordered the Death Eaters beside her. "Let him watch while we torture the little girl."

"You'll have to smash this if you want to attack any of us," Harry said, holding the Prophecy up to his chest and standing protectively in front of Ginny. "I don't think your boss will be too pleased if you come back without it, will he?"

Bellatrix didn't move; she merely stared at Harry. He began to speak again, surely buying themselves more time to figure out how to get out of here, but he seemed to be merely distracting the Death Eaters. Elizabeth however, had her mind reeling and thinking of all the scenarios her mind could imagine. She ignored Neville's shaking arm pressed against hers and she ignored Amir's quickened breath down her neck as he nervously stood behind her. Before she knew it, however, she was speaking again.

"How come Voldemort wants it?" she said, only uttering the name when necessary. Several Death Eaters hissed.

"You dare speak his name?" Bellatrix whispered.

"Only when I'm in the presence of idiots like you," the girl lied. "So, I'm not afraid of saying Vold-"

"Shut your mouth!" Bellatrix shrieked. "You dare speak his name with your unworthy lips, you dare besmirch it with your Mudblood tongue-"

"Correction. I'm a Half-Blood, or at least I think. You know, He's a Half-Blood too, and so is Harry here." Elizabeth continued, seeing that Bellatrix was getting angrier by the second.

"Yeah, Voldemort?" Harry said. "Well, his mother was a witch but his dad was a Muggle - or had he been telling you lot that he's a Pure-Blood?"

"STUPEF-"

"NO!"

A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy deflected it; his spell caused her to his the shelf a foot to the left and shatter several glass orbs.

"DO NOT ATTACK! WE NEED THE PROPHECY! WE NEED HER!" Malfoy roared. Her? Elizabeth thought.

"She dares - he dares -" Bellatrix shrieked incoherently, "they stand there - filthy Half-Bloods-"

"WAIT UNTIL WE'VE GOT THE PROPHECY!"

"Harry?" Liz whispered, taking advantage of the fact that Bellatrix and Malfoy were yelling at each other. "Ha-"

"What?" the boy whispered back.

"When I say now... smash shelves. Pass it along."

Harry nodded subtly and Liz saw him, out of the corner of her eye, pass it on to Hermione, who then passed it on to Ginny, and so on. During that time, Harry managed to keep Lucius Malfoy and Bellatrix Lestrange busy by asking questions about the Prophecy, its information only useful if they got out of this mess alive with the help of Elizabeth improvised plan.

"Why couldn't Voldemort come and get it himself?" Harry asked. Ellie was waiting for the right moment.

"Get it himself?" Bellatrix shrieked over a cackle of mad laughter. "The Dark Lord, walk into the Ministry of Magic, when they are so sweetly ignoring his return? The Dark Lord, reveal himself to the Aurors, when at the moment they are wasting their time on my dear cousin?"

"So, he's got you doing his dirty work then? Like he tried to have Sturgis steal it - and Bode?"

"Very good, Potter, very good..." Malfoy said. "But the Dark Lord know you are not unintell-"

"NOW!"

Seven different voices behind Elizabeth bellowed, 'Reducto'. Seven curses flew in seven different directions and the shelves opposite them exploded as they hit. The towering structures swayed as hundreds of glass spheres burst apart and fell onto the splintered wooden floor. Shelves began to topple over as the eight children ran away from the large group of Death Eaters who immediately lunged forward after them. One of them grasped Elizabeth by the hood, but she sent them an elbow to their masked face and kept on running. She saw Harry, Ron, Luna and Ginny run past her and heard Hermione shout 'Stupefy' at someone who presumably tried to grab her.

They were at the end of row ninety-seven; Harry turned to the right and Elizabeth followed, seeing the door they came in from ajar and the light shining through. She ran as fast as she could towards the door, heart pounding in her chest, and slammed it behind her as someone ran through and shouted 'Colloportus', sealing the door shut with an odd squelching sound. Liz looked around: it was only herself, Harry, Hermione and Neville; Ginny, Luna, Ron and Amir were nowhere to be found. The girl's heart sank.

"Amir? Where's Amir?"

"They must've gone the wrong way!" Hermione whispered.

"Listen!" Neville whispered.

Footsteps and shouts echoed from behind the door Hermione had just sealed. Elizabeth put her ear to the door and heard Lucius Malfoy yell to the Death Eaters.

"Leave Nott, leave him, I say - his injuries will be nothing to the Dark Lord compared to losing that Prophecy," he shouted. Elizabeth was whispering his words to the others as he went. "Jugson, come back here, we need to organise! We'll split into pairs and search, and don't forget, be gentle with Potter until we've got the Prophecy, you can kill the others if necessary except Elizabeth - Bellatrix, Rodolphus, you take the left; Crabbe, Rabastan, go right; Jugson, Dolohov, the door straight ahead; Macnair and Avery, through here; Rookwood, Travers, over there; Mulciber, come with me!"

"What do we do?" Hermione asked, trembling from head to toe.

"Well, we don't stand here waiting for them to find us, for a start. Let's get away from this door." Harry replied.

"Wait, guys!" Liz said. Everyone looked at her. "If you aren't prepared to kill - seriously injure."

The three others nodded seriously, and they all ran as fast as their legs could take them, past the shimmering light and the many doors and back towards the circular room they once were in. They were almost there when Elizabeth heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione had charmed shut. A rough voice cast Alohomora at the door and it flew open. Automatically, Harry, Hermione, Neville and Elizabeth ducked under desks. Liz could the see the two Death Eaters' robes drawing nearer and nearer, their feet moving rapidly. Suddenly, Ellie heard her brother yell 'Stupefy' and then saw a bright jet of red light flash before her eyes. A thump was heard signaling the man fell back, but the other jumped over the desk and pointed his wand at Hermione.

"Flipendo Tria!" Liz muttered, standing and slashing her wand at the Death Eater who flew into the opposite wall.

"Thanks!" Hermione called, sending a flash of red light at the other Death Eater.

"No time, for thanks kid!"

"Avada -"

"Stupefy!" Neville shouted, hitting the Death Eater in the shoulder.

Both men were down for now and the four children properly rose from their hiding spots and began to run towards the exit. However, Elizabeth stopped in her tracks when she heard a shout from a room nearby, then a crash, then a scream. Suddenly, the door they were going to burst open and two more Death Eaters entered, shouting spells. Harry, Hermione, Neville and Elizabeth were all knocked off their feet; Neville was thrown into a desk and disappeared from view, Hermione smashed into a bookcase and was immediately covered in a cascade of heavy books, the back of Harry's head slammed into the wall behind him and Elizabeth was also sent into a desk, the flimsy structure crushed underneath her weight. For a moment, she was too dizzy and disoriented to react.

"WE'VE GOT THEM!" Dolohov, the Death Eater closest to Harry, shouted. "WE'VE GOT THEM IN AN OFF-"

"Silencio!" Hermione yelled, quieting the man's voice. He was thrust aside by his fellow Death Eater.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Harry roared, as Jugson, the second Death Eater, rose his wand. His arms and legs snapped together and he fell face first.

"Well done, Ha-"

But the Death Eater that Hermione had just silenced made a sudden slashing movement with his wand; a streak of what looked like purple lightening hit Hermione straight in the chest. She gave a tiny squeal of surprise and crumpled to the floor, where she lay motionless. Harry angrily called her name and collapsed onto his knees beside her as Neville crawled towards them, but was kicked in the face. His face was now bloodied and his nose surely broken. Elizabeth rose from her crouching position and pointed her wand at his back.

"Hey, Dolohov!" she called. He turned around, grinning sadistically. "Expulso!"

A pale jet of blue light shot out of the tip of Elizabeth's wand and nicked a desk causing it to explode into hundreds of splinters, missing Dolohov. But the force of the explosion made the Death Eater fly off his feet and slam into the wall, the force of the impact cracking the stone wall he rammed into. He wasn't moving. Letting out a short and angry breath, Elizabeth collected herself and ran over to Harry, Neville and Hermione. She shook her shoulders, but nothing happened. She wasn't dead, the rise and fall of her chest was still there, but it was as if she were in a coma. Liz could only imagine what the effect of Dolohov's curse might have been if he had been able to speak.

"We need to go, now." Harry said.

"I'll carry her," Neville said, nodding at Hermione. "You doo are bedder at fighding den I am."

He stood up and seized one of Hermione's arms and, with Harry's help, hoisted her up onto his shoulders. Harry stuck his head out of the door and looked around cautiously and signaled for Neville and his sister to follow. They walked a few steps forward and exited into the circular room once more, before the wall began to rotate again. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Elizabeth saw that Hermione's fiery crosses had vanished from the doors. But before they could make a decision as to which door they would try next, a door to their right burst open and four people fell out.

"Amir!" Elizabeth cried and dashed forward, trapping the boy in a bone-crushing hug. She pulled back and punched him on the shoulder.

"Ouch! What was that for?" he said with a chuckle, revealing a bloody mouth.

"For scaring me."

"It will not happen again, Rose. I am with you until the end."

"Ha ha ha... you all look funny... you're all messed up," Ron giggled weakly, lurching forwards. A bubble blew out of his mouth and burst.

"Ginny-?"

"Don't ask," she groaned sitting down, holding her ankle.

"I think it's broken, I heard something crack," Luna said, bending over her seemingly unhurt. "I don't know what they hit Ron with, but he's gone a bit funny."

"He was probably hit with a strong Confundus Charm." Liz said absent-minded, staring at an inert Hermione. She snapped out of it. "Anyway, we've got to go. If we stay here too long they'll-"

Too late. A few feet away a number of Death Eaters burst through the door, all lead by Bellatrix Lestrange who shrieked happily upon seeing the eight teenagers. Stunning Spells shot across the room until Harry was able to seal the door shut with a flick of his wand; he repeated this with every other door in the room. Elizabeth could hear footsteps running along behind said doors, every now and then another heavy body would launch itself against one, so it creaked and shuddered. Luna and Neville were now bewitching the doors as they began to unstick. Suddenly, a yell was heard and Luna was sent flying through the air; five Death Eaters were surging into the room through the door she hadn't reached in time. Luna hit a desk, slid over its surface and on to the floor on the other side where she lay sprawled, as still as Hermione.

"Get the Potters!" Bellatrix shrieked and ran at Harry, presumably for the Prophecy.

Harry was safe as long as he had the Prophecy in his hands, but Elizabeth wasn't and it seemed that the Death Eaters needed her for reasons unknown to her, her brother and her friends. Her only comfort was that they seemed to need her alive. However, it didn't stop them from sending her Impediment Jinxes and Stunning Spells by the dozen. Neville tried to stun them in return, but his broken nose prevented him from pronouncing his spells correctly, therefore having no effect whatsoever. Ginny was sitting in a corner unable to move because of her broken ankle, but sent the occasional Stunning Spell to a Death Eater with their back turned. Luna and Hermione were still knocked out from the Death Eaters' spells. Only Harry, Neville, Elizabeth and Amir were fighting the five Death Eaters now, two of whom sent streams of silver light like arrows which missed but left craters in the wall behind them. Elizabeth ran for it as one of the five raced right at her; all she could think of was steering them away from the others.

It seemed to have worked; the Death Eaters streaked after her and Harry, who had run off in the same direction with the Prophecy held over his head, knocking down tables and chairs but not daring to bewitch them in case they hurt her or the Prophecy. Harry and Liz dashed through the only door still open, the one which the Death Eaters had come themselves, inwardly praying that Amir and Neville would stay with Ron and find some way of freeing him from his predicament. They ran a few more feet into the new room until they felt the floor vanish beneath their feet. The siblings were then falling down steep step after steep step, bouncing horribly until they finally crashed flat on their backs in the sunken pit where the stone archway stood. The whole room was ringing with the Death Eaters' laughter: Elizabeth looked up and saw that the five who had been following them were now descending towards her and her brother, while many more emerged through other doorways. The girl scrambled to her feet and miraculously stood, despite the weakness in her legs. She backed away, trying to keep all the Death Eaters in sight; she was now standing in front of the stone archway. The Death Eaters halted, staring at the two siblings. Some were panting as hard as they were; one was bleeding badly; Dolohov, woken up after Elizabeth's curse, was leering at her, wand pointed straight at her face.

"Potters, your race is run," Lucius Malfoy drawled, pulling off his mask, "now hand me the Prophecy like a good boy."

"Let the others go, including my sister, and - and I'll give it to you," Harry said desperately. A few Death Eaters laughed.

"You are in no position to bargain, Potter," Malfoy said, face flushed. "You see, there are ten of us and only two of you... or hasn't Dumbledore taught you to count?"

"They are not alone!" a voice shouted from behind them. "They have us!"

Elizabeth's heart sank. She was hoping that Amir and Neville had stayed behind to help the others, but alas! Amir poised himself behind his Rose and Neville began descending more steps shouting 'Stubefy' instead of 'Stupefy'. One of the largest Death Eaters seized Neville, his spells having no effect, pinned his arms to his side and kept him in place. He struggled and kicked as a few more Death Eaters laughed. Worse than that, Bellatrix recognised him... She was the one who permanently put Neville's parents in St Mungos, driven insane by the Cruciatus Curse. Liz shuddered, the memory and feeling of that spell quite fresh in her mind.

"Let's see how long Longbottom lasts before he cracks like his parents... unless Potter wants to give us the Prophecy?"

"DON'D GIB ID DO DEM! Neville roared. Bellatrix raised her wand.

"Crucio!"

Neville screamed, his legs drawn up to his chest so that the Death Eater holding him was momentarily holding him off the ground until her dropped the boy, twitching and screaming in agony. Elizabeth wanted to scream, to punch, to kill every Death Eater in the room, but she was frozen in place, eyes staring coldly at Neville's writhing body. Her knuckles were white as she wrung her fingers tightly around her dark wand and her face seemed paler than usual, if possible, the only colour upon it being the blood trickling from her forehead and lip.

Bellatrix raised her wand. Neville's screams stopped, but he lay at her feet sobbing uncontrollably. She turned back to Harry and Liz.

"That was just a taster!" she said. "Now, Potter, either give us the Prophecy, or watch your little friend die the hard way!"

Elizabeth didn't see Harry hesitate for a second as his left hand reached out, holding the small glittering Prophecy. Elizabeth was about to protest, but then, high above them, two more doors burst open and five more people sprinted into the room: Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Alistair "Mad-Eye" Moody, Nymphadora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Elizabeth had a sudden burst of confidence and managed a shaky smile. Professor Snape came through, she thought, he understood Harry's message!

Malfoy turned and raised his wand, but Tonks had already sent a Stunning Spell right at him. Elizabeth did not wait to see if it had hit, and neither did Harry or Amir. She dashed forward shooting any spell that came to mind and at any Death Eater that came into range, dodging the multiple bright green Killing Curses that were aimed at everyone but her and Harry. Amir began shooting spells at a Death Eater named Travers and Harry went off to make sure Neville was all right. Spells were raining everywhere, all colours of the rainbow: red Stunning Spells flew beside Elizabeth's ear, green Killing Curses shot out of Bellatrix's wand and attempted to hit her cousin and more of those purple lightening spells came from Antonin Dolohov. Suddenly, the floor near Liz's feet became a large crater and made her unsteady, then a thick arm came out of nowhere and grasped her around the waist.

"I've got the girl!" the man shouted.

"Let - go - of - me!" the girl growled.

"Locomotor Wibbly!" Amir shouted, making the Death Eater drop to the floor and unable to support his own weight.

Elizabeth nodded gratefully at her best friend and turned around just in time to shield herself from Rabastan's curse. She felt something streak fast her face like a blunt knife; the force of it knocked her sideways and she fell into something, but the Shield Charm had stopped the worst of the curse. The Death Eater looked at Liz, a mad glint in his eye, and aimed at her for another spell, but Remus had hurtled out of nowhere and rammed Rabastan in the shoulder and sent him flying out of the way. Now, she and Remus were battling Rabastan, wands flashing like swords, sparks flying from their wand tips. Rabastan drew back his wand to make the same slashing movement as before and aimed at Lupin, but Elizabeth was faster and yelled 'Petrificus Totalus!' The Death Eater's arms and legs snapped together and he keeled over backwards, landing with a crash on his back.

"Nice one!" Remus smiled, forcing Elizabeth's head down as a pair of Stunning Spells flew towards them. "Now, I want you to get out of-"

The two ducked again; a jet of green light had narrowly missed Remus. Across the room, Elizabeth saw Amir still battling Travers. Shots of red and green were lighting up their faces, the green ones narrowly missing the Egyptian as he ducked and rolled out of the way, a cocky smile on his face. Then, it happened. As he rose and sent a jet of blue light towards Travers, the Death Eater sent a dangerously familiar slash of bright green light towards the boy. Amir's eyes went wide at the last second and the spell hit him straight in the face, sending him falling down half of the stone steps Liz had fallen down earlier. Elizabeth ignored Remus' pleas for her to leave and she ran towards her best friend, all sounds and colours blurred into one dull feeling. She dodged a Stunning Spell from Mulciber, half-hazardly sending him a Reductor Curse, and fell to her knees, eyes wide in fear. She called Amir by his name, his nickname, even names he hated; but his eyes remained open and glazed over, pupils dilated. The girl's breath caught in her throat as she grasped his warm hand and began shaking with a mixture or anger and sadness. He was gone.


	95. The Battle Part 2

It took quite a bit of hatred to use one of the three unforgivable curses - you needed to mean it, to enjoy it for it to work properly; especially for Avada Kedavra and Crucio. For Travers to have used the Killing Curse on Amir required quite a disturbed mind, something Elizabeth didn't doubt he had. But why use the Killing Curse on someone? That she would never understand.

Spells continued to fly over and around her but she ignored them, or maybe she wasn't even aware of them anymore: Elizabeth - Rose - was blinded by the emotions she hid and continued to hide with her Occlumency lessons. Knees digging into the stone floor; palms resting on her knees; head lolling forwards in an attempt to hide the tears, whether they be angry or sad; and wand set to the side, Elizabeth was broken. One knows they are in endless pain when you wake up one morning and a few hours later your best friend dies, prepped to be buried and forgotten by those dear to them. Elizabeth already knew she was in pain, what with all the unfortunate things that happened when she was around, but she now knew that that pain would never be suppressed. She knew that when she went to sleep that night, Amir's once warm and shining chocolate eyes would haunt her dreams; she knew that she would see the ghost of his bright smile everywhere she went; she knew that her best friend's death would stay at the forefront of her mind and grow like a cancerous tumor until her own end.

Laughter. Laughter echoed in her ears and it burned like a white hot knife through the heart. Elizabeth dried her tears with her sleeve and brushed Amir's eyelids closed. She didn't know why people did this, but she'd seen it in Muggle movies enough times to figure it was respectful. Travers began to talk to her, insult her, antagonize her. Every word stung but only fueled the fire was igniting inside the young witch. Every violated phrase was like gasoline to it and the girl's jaw began to clench, her eyes became cold again, wand now held in hand. When the final drop had been added to the sea of gasoline fueling her rage, Elizabeth explode with anger. With a yell no one had thought a girl her age could produce, Liz rose to her feet and pointed her wand at Travers who sent an Impediment Jinx her way. She swiftly blocked it with a decisive slashing move and muttered 'Protego' quietly enough so Travers, or anyone else for that matter, couldn't hear her. He sent another spell at her and she blocked it, immediately sending one back in his direction.

"Sectumsempra!" she whispered.

A flash of pure white light burst out of the tip of Elizabeth's wand and hit Travers directly in the chest. The Death Eater staggered back two feet before he collapsed onto the ground and Elizabeth calmly walked over to him, body no longer shaking with anger. Blood was pouring out from Travers' face and chest as though he had been slashed with multiple invisible swords. His wand lay a few feet away, his limp hand outstretched to grasp it, but Liz crushed it with her foot and kicked it away. She looked at Travers, whose pale face was now shining scarlet, hands scrabbling at his blood-soaked chest.

"Go on, missy - finish me!"

"No," Liz said simply. "I think you need time to reflect upon your actions tonight."

Remus suddenly came running over and glanced, slightly terrified, at his Goddaughter and then at the Death Eater who was slowly bleeding to death at her feet. Elizabeth's gaze upon the man was cold and hard, but her body was loose and calm.

"Elizabeth?" he said, gasping her by the shoulders.

"What?" she replied coolly looking up from Travers to Remus.

"You and Harry round up the others," he said, deciding not to ask about the dying Death Eater. "Get out! Go!"

"I'm not leaving him," Liz said simply, glancing behind her.

"Who- Oh, God." Remus had set eyes on Amir. "I'll get him out of here, I promise."

Elizabeth nodded quickly and turned on her heel. Dodging several Stunning Spells and Impediment Jinxes, the girl made her way towards Harry and Neville. She and her brother grasped Neville by the shoulder of his robes and hoisted him up the stairs, but a spell hit the floor beneath them and made them fall to their knees. Suddenly, the Prophecy that was somehow in Neville's pocket fell and, before Harry could catch it, it fell to the ground and smashed into little shards. A pearly-white figure with hugely magnified eyes rose into the air from it, unnoticed by anyone but the three teenagers, and disappeared into nothingness.

Suddenly, another door burst open and in came Albus Dumbledore. It was only as he sped past Harry, Neville and Elizabeth, who no longer had thoughts of leaving, that the Death Eaters were aware of his arrival. One of them ran for it, but Dumbledore's spell pulled him back as easily and effortlessly as though he had hooked them with an invisible line. Now only one pair was battling, apparently unaware of the new arrival. Sirius and Bellatrix were dodging each other's spells but, just like Amir, Sirius seemed to be getting cocky and careless. He dodged a flash of red light and laughed, but he failed to dodge the other. The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock as he fell through the ominous black veil in the stone archway in the center of the room. Elizabeth heard Bellatrix's scream of triumph as her brother ran forwards, but she grabbed him by the arm and tried to drag him away.

"There's nothing you can do, Harry," she called.

"We can get him, we can save him!" Harry yelled back.

"It's too late, brother!"

"So we're just going to leave him? He's family!"

"So was Amir."

However, it appeared that Harry had no time for sympathy as he rushed off towards the stone archway. She didn't even try to grasp her brother's arm again, but instead managed to pull Neville up the stone stairs they were meant to. Lupin began dragging Harry away from the archway, telling him the same thing Elizabeth had. When the girl reached the top of the stairs, she took a moment to glance around; Dumbledore had most of the Death Eaters grouped in the middle of the room, seemingly immobilised by invisible ropes; Mad-Eye had crawled across the room to where Tonks lay, and was attempting to revive her; Travers now lay dead in a pool of his own blood; and behind the archway, Kingsley had continued Sirius' duel with Bellatrix. Just then, however, Kingsley hit the ground, yelling in pain: Bellatrix turned around and ran as Dumbledore whipped around. He aimed a spell at her, but she deflected it, halfway up the steps.

Nothing could stop either Liz or Harry at that moment. Harry pelted towards Bellatrix and Elizabeth sprinted after Harry, determined that he not do anything foolish - alone that is. People were shouting behind them, but neither of them cared. The hem of Bellatrix Lestrange's robes whipped out of sight ahead and they were now in a room where brains were swimming in tanks, one of them shattered. She aimed a spell over her shoulder which made one of the tanks float and tip over. Harry and Liz were deluged in the horrible-smelling solution within and the brains began whipping their tentacles around. With a quick and wordless swish and flick, Elizabeth made the brains rise into the air and out of hers and her brother's way as they kept on running after Bellatrix. They passed Luna, Ron, Ginny and an unconscious Hermione: Harry and her jumped over Luna who was groaning on the floor and wrenched open the door that the Death Eater had shut. The siblings were now back in the same circular room as before, the one that lead back to the lifts and the Entrance Hall. Once again, the walls began to rotate.

"Where's the exit?" Harry bellowed.

It seemed as if the room had been waiting for the teenagers to ask, as the door right behind them flew open and the corridor towards the lifts stretched ahead of them, torch-lit and empty. Immediately, the siblings ran, the sound of a clattering lift ahead. They sprinted up the passageway, swung around the corner and Harry slammed his fist on the button to call a second lift. He and Elizabeth dashed inside, hammering the button marked Atrium. The doors slid shut and they were rising... Harry forced his way out of the lift before the grilles were fully open and looked around. Bellatrix was almost at the telephone lift at the other end of the hall, but she looked back and aimed another spell at them. Harry and Elizabeth dodged behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren: the spell zoomed past them and hit the wrought-gold gates at the other end of the Atrium so that they rang like bells. Suddenly, there were no more footsteps. Bellatrix had stopped running. Liz and her brother crouched down behind the statues and listened.

"Come out, come out, little ones!" the Death Eater called in her mock baby voice. "What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were hear to avenge my dear cousin!"

"I am!" Harry shouted, his voice echoing.

"Harry don't," Liz warned quietly.

"Ah... did you love him, little baby Potter?"

Elizabeth had never seen her brother this angry before and she barely had any time to react as he rose out from their hiding spot and pointed his wand at the woman, bellowing 'Crucio! ' Bellatrix screamed: the spell had knocked her off her feet, but she didn't writhe in pain as Neville and Elizabeth had - she was already back on her feet, breathless and no longer laughing. Harry dodged behind the Fountain again as the woman's spell hit the head of one of the statues and it blew apart, pieces scratching the floor below.

"Never used an unforgivable curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled, abandoning her baby voice. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how its done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson-"

Harry and Elizabeth were edging around the Fountain's base on the other side when the woman shrieked 'Crucio' and they were forced to duck down again as the Centaur's arm, holding his bow, spun off the Fountain and landed with a crash on the ground near the remains of the wizard's head.

"Potter, you cannot win against me! Especially if you keep trying to use that spell - at least dearest Elizabeth had the sense to seriously injure - TRAVERS IS DEAD BY THE WAY!" Bellatrix shrieked. Harry gave his sister a look of terrified confusion. Liz simply stared ahead, nearly terrified out of her wits. "I was and am the Dark Lord's most loyal servant. I learned the Dark Arts from him, and I know spells of such power that you, pathetic little children, can never hope to compete-"

"Stupefy!" Harry yelled, edging around to where the Goblin stood beaming up at the now headless wizard and taken aim at Bellatrix's back.

"Protego!" The spell rebounded and hit one of the Goblins' ears. "Potter, I'm going to give you one chance," Bellatrix shouted. "Give me the Prophecy and I may spare your life!"

"Life? Doesn't she mean lives?" Elizabeth whispered. Harry shrugged.

"Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone!" he roared and, as he did, pain seared on Elizabeth's lip; her scar was on fire again, and she felt a surge on anger that was quite unconnected with her own rage. "And He knows! Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you is he?"

"What? What do you mean?" she cried, and for the first time there was fear in her voice.

"The Prophecy was smashed when we were trying to get Neville up the stairs," Elizabeth said just loud enough for Bellatrix to hear.

"What do you think Voldemort'll say about that, then?" Harry continued.

Elizabeth's scar, and probably Harry's, was searing and burning in more pain than in usually did; it was nearly making the girl's eyes water.

"LIARS!" the Death Eater shrieked, but Liz could hear terror behind the anger now. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME! Accio Prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!"

Harry laughed because they both knew that it would incense her, but the pain was building fast in Elizabeth's head so badly that she thought any more laughter would make her head burst. Harry waved both his empty hands from behind the one-eared Goblin but withdrew them quickly as Bellatrix sent another jet of green light flying at them.

"Nothing there!" Harry shouted. "Nothing to summon! It smashed and nobody heard what it said, tell your boss that!"

"No!" the woman screamed. "It isn't true, you're lying! MASTER, I TRIED, I TRIED - DO NOT PUNISH ME-"

"Don't waste your breath!" Harry yelled. "He can't hear you from here!"

Elizabeth would rarely admit her fear. She could be at a level that could induce paralysis in others and yet she'd carry on as if nothing was wrong. Nearly no one could spot her tension. She was the calm and collected swan swimming over the lake, even if a great monster was coming her way with its mouth wide open. The only thing that ever gave her away was a certain twinkle of fear in her eye, and was it ever bright in the moment someone else in the room spoke in a dangerously familiar high and cold tone of voice.

"Can't I, Potter?"


	96. The Battle's End

"Can't I, Potter?"

Elizabeth did not know when she closed her eyes and stood from her crouching position and honestly, neither did Harry. But there they were, standing up behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren eyes closed and waiting to be opened. Both pairs of green eyes, albeit different shades, slowly opened and locked with a pair of blood red orbs with black slits for pupils. Tall, thin and black-hooded, his terrible snakelike face white and gaunt, Lord Voldemort had appeared in the middle of the Atrium, wand pointed solely at Harry Potter, who stood just as frozen as Elizabeth Evans right beside him.

"So, you smashed my Prophecy?" Voldemort said softly, staring at the male sibling with his pitiless red eyes. "No, Bella, he is not lying... I see the truth looking at me within his worthless mind... Of course, I could never dream of seeing such things in dear Elizabeth's head," he said with what Liz identified as an attempt at a smile in her direction. He sighed. "Months of preparation, months of effort... and my Death Eaters have let Harry Potter thwart me again..."

There was a single thought running through Elizabeth's brain during this time; why wasn't You-Know-Who directing his anger at her as well as her brother? Bellatrix had been doing the same thing before. Did this have anything to do with Lucius Malfoy yelling about needing "her" earlier, or with a Death Eater trying to capture her instead of kill her? Did Voldemort need the Slytherin witch for something more than a simple Prophecy?

"Master, I am sorry, I knew not, I was fighting the Animagus Black!" Bellatrix sobbed, flinging herself down at Voldemort's feet as he paced slowly nearer. "Master, you should know-"

"Silence, Bella," Voldemort said dangerously. "I shall deal with you in a moment. Do you think I have entered the Ministry of Magic to hear your snivelling apologies?"

"But Master - he is here - he is below-"

Voldemort paid no attention to Bellatrix's pleas. Instead, he turned back to Harry and pointed his wand at the boy's chest. Why not at me? Liz thought, I'm obviously the bigger threat here! Harry's frozen solid!

"I have nothing more to say to you, Potter," he said quietly. "You have irked me too often, for too long. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry had not even opened his mouth to resist, nor did he try to move and dodge the spell. Elizabeth however, knew what was best for her and ducked, but nothing happened except loud noises. The headless golden statue of the Wizard in the Fountain had suddenly sprung alive, leaping from its place to land with a crash on the floor between the siblings and You-Know-Who. The spell merely bounced off its chest as the statue flung its arms out to protect Harry and Elizabeth.

"What-?" cried Voldemort, staring around. And then he breathed, "Dumbledore!"

Both siblings instantly looked behind them, hearts pounding: Dumbledore was standing in front of the golden gates. Voldemort raised his wand and another jet of blinding green light streaked at Dumbledore, who turned and was gone in a whirling of his cloak. The next second, he had reappeared behind You-Know-Who and waved his wand towards the remnants of the Fountain. The other statues sprang to life; the Witch ran at Bellatrix, who screamed and sent spells streaming uselessly off its chest, before it dived at her, pinning her to the floor. Meanwhile, the Goblin and the House-Elf scrambled towards the fireplaces set along the wall and the one-armed Centaur galloped at Voldemort, who vanished and reappeared beside the pool. The headless statue thrust Harry and Elizabeth backwards, away from the fight, as Hogwarts' rightful Headmaster advanced on Voldemort and the golden Centaur cantered around them both.

"It was foolish to come here tonight, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly. "The Aurors are on their way-"

"By which time I shall be gone, and you will be dead!" Voldemort spat.

He sent another Killing Curse at Dumbledore but missed, instead hitting the security guard's desk which burst into flame. Dumbledore flicked his own wand: the force of the spell that came from it was so powerful that, even though Elizabeth was shielded by the large statue, she felt her hair whisk off her shoulders as it passed. This time Voldemort was forced to conjure a large shining silver shield out of thin air to be able to deflect it. The spell, whatever it was, caused no visible damage to the shield, though a deep, gong-like sound came off it - an oddly chilling sound.

"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" Voldemort called, scarlet eyes narrowed. "Above such brutality, are you?"

"We both know that there are different ways of destroying a man, Tom," Dumbledore said calmly, continuing to walk towards Voldemort as if he hadn't a care in the world. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit-"

"There is nothing worse than death, Dumbledore!" Voldemort snarled.

"You are quite wrong. Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness-"

Another jet of green light flew from behind the silver shield. This time it was the one-armed Centaur, galloping in front of Dumbledore, that took the blast and shattered into a hundred pieces, but before the fragments had even hit the floor, Dumbledore had drawn back his wand and waved it as though brandishing a whip. A long thin flame flew from the tip; it wrapped itself around Voldemort, shield and all. For a moment, it seemed that Dumbledore had won, but then the fiery rope became a large serpent, which relinquished its hold on Voldemort at once and turned, hissing furiously, to face Dumbledore. Voldemort vanished and the snake prepared to strike. At the same time it did, another jet of green light burst from Voldemort's wand, but it didn't hit the Hogwarts Headmaster. Instead, above his head a small burst of flame appeared and Fawkes the Phoenix swooped down to swallow the spell whole: he burst into flame and fell to the floor in a pile of ash, waiting to be reborn. At the same moment, Dumbledore waved his wand again and the snake flew high into the air and vanished in a puff of black smoke.

Suddenly, the water in the Fountain's pool rose up and covered Voldemort like a cocoon of molten glass. For a few seconds, he was only visible as a dark, rippling, faceless figure. Then he was gone and the water fell with a crash back into its pool, slopping wildly over the sides and drenching the polished floor. It seemed over to Harry, as he began to walk away from the giant statue, but Dumbledore yelled:

"Stay where you are, Harry!"

For the first time, Dumbledore sounded frightened. Elizabeth couldn't see why as the room was quite empty but for themselves, the sobbing Bellatrix still trapped underneath the Witch statue, and the baby phoenix Fawkes croaking feebly on the floor. But then, Elizabeth's scar burst open and she knew something worse was coming: it was pain beyond imagining, pain past endurance, pain past the Cruciatus Curse she had endured.

Suddenly, Harry began to speak not as himself, but as Voldemort - he had possessed him just like he had Ginny. In Elizabeth and Harry's agony, the boy spoke the words of a madman.

"Kill me now, Dumbledore... I f death is nothing, kill the boy..."

Elizabeth was too busy staring at her brother that she never saw what Dumbledore did exactly to release Voldemort's hold on her brother, neither was she listening to the words he spoke. All she saw was Harry fall face first onto the ground, his glasses smashed into his forehead and shivering as though he'd been sleeping on ice for hours. He groaned and sat up, searching for his glasses. Elizabeth grabbed them, mumbled the same spell Hermione always used to fix them and handed the bifocals to her brother. Dumbledore walked over to the siblings.

"Are you all right, Harry?" he asked.

"Yes," the boy replied, shaking so violently he couldn't hold his head up properly. "Yeah, I'm - where's Voldemort, where - who are all these - what's-"

Elizabeth hadn't even noticed that the Atrium was now filled with people; the floor was reflecting the emerald green flames that had burst into life in all the fireplaces along one wall, and streams of witches and wizards were emerging from them. She and Dumbledore helped Harry to his feet, and the siblings both saw the tiny gold statues of the House-Elf and the Goblin leading a stunned-looking Cornelius Fudge forward.

"He was there!" a man in scarlet robes shouted, pointing at the rubble of the Witch's statue where Bellatrix once was. "I saw him Mr Fudge, I swear it was You-Know-Who! He grabbed a woman and Disapparated!"

"I know Williamson, I know, I saw him too," Fudge said, wearing pinstriped pyjamas under his cloak and panting as though he'd just run miles. "Merlin's beard - here - here! In the Ministry of Magic - heavens above - it doesn't seem possible - my word, how can this be?"

"If you proceed downstairs into the Department of Mysteries, Cornelius," Dumbledore began, "you will find several escaped Death Eaters contained in the Death Chamber, bound by an Anti-Disapparition Jinx and awaiting your decision as to what to do with them."

"Dumbledore!" Fudge gasped, beside himself with amazement. "You - here - I - I - Seize him!"

"Cornelius, I am ready to fight your men - and win again!" Dumbledore said in a thunderous voice. "But a few minutes ago you saw proof, with your own eyes, that I have been telling you the truth for an entire year. Lord Voldemort has returned, you have been chasing the wrong man for twelve months, and it is time to listened to reason!"

"I - don't - well -" blustered Fudge, looking around as though hoping someone would tell him what to do. When nobody did, he continued, "Very well - Dawlish! Williamson! Go down to the Department of Mysteries and see. Dumbledore, you - you will need to tell me exact- the Fountain of Magical Bretheren - what happened?" he added in a sort of whimper.

"We can discuss that after I have sent Harry and Elizabeth back to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said.

"Harry and Elizabeth, right, right - what!?"

Fudge spun around and stared at the siblings who were still standing against the wall beside the fallen statue that had guarded them during Voldemort and Dumbledore's duel. The latter gently tugged him away and created a Portkey with the Wizard's head that lay on the floor.

"Now see here, Dumbledore!" Fudge said as Dumbledore picked up the head and walked back to Harry and Elizabeth. "You haven't got authorisation for that Portkey! You can't do things like that in front of the Minister for Magic, you - you-" His voice faltered as Dumbledore surveyed him over his half-moon spectacles.

"You will give the order to remove Dolores Umbridge from Hogwarts," Dumbledore said. "You will tell your Aurors to stop searching for my Care of Magical Creatures professor so that he may return to work. I will give you... half an hour of my time tonight, in which I think we shall be more than able to cover the important points of what has happened here. After that, I shall need to return to my school. If you need more help from me you are, of course, more than welcome to contact me at Hogwarts. Letters addressed to the Headmaster will find me."

Fudge goggled worse than ever; his mouth was open wide and his round face grew pinker with every word under his rumpled grey hair. He began to stutter something to Dumbledore, but he ignored him and turned towards the two siblings instead. He held out the golden head of the statue and Harry and Elizabeth who put their hands on it, both past caring what they did next or where they went. Elizabeth felt the familiar sensation of a hook being jerked behind her navel. The polished wood floors, now covered in a layer of statue dust, disappeared from underneath her feet; the Atrium, Fudge and Dumbledore had all disappeared and she was flying forwards in a whirlwind of sound and colour.


	97. Answers

Elizabeth's feet hit solid ground; her knees buckled a little and the golden wizard's head fell to the floor with a resounding clunk. She and her brother looked around and saw that they'd arrived in Dumbledore's office. Everything had seemed to have repaired itself during the Headmaster's absence. The delicate silver instruments sat once more on the spindle-legged tables, puffing and whirring serenely. The portraits of the previous Headmasters and Headmistresses were snoozing in their frames, heads lolling back in armchairs or against the edge of their pictures. Elizabeth looked through the window. There was a cool line of pale green along the horizon: dawn was approaching.

The silence and stillness, broken only by the occasional grunt or sniffle of a sleeping portrait, reflected Elizabeth's serene appearance, but not the chaos swimming inside. If her surroundings could have reflected the feelings inside the girl, the pictures would have been screaming in pain and the quiet instruments would be shattered all over the floor. Harry began walking around quietly and Liz sat down, trying no to think. But she had to think... there was no escaping her own thoughts.

It was ultimately Harry's fault that Amir and Sirius had died, but she couldn't blame him for his decision to rely on his dreams. If she had only been more persistent in trying to convince Harry not to fall prey to Voldemort's trick, maybe they would both still be among the living. However, Liz was too proud to let the blame fall on her own short-comings. It was Harry's fault, she kept reminding herself. If he had not been so convinced that what he had seen in his dream was real, if he had only opened his mind to the possibility that Voldemort was, as Hermione said, banking on Harry's love of playing the hero... If Harry hadn't been so stupid, she would have had more time to look into those gleeful chocolate brown eyes that she'd now never ever see shining again. There was a terrible hollow inside Elizabeth, a hollow she did not want to feel or examine, a dark hole where Amir had been, where Amir had vanished; she didn't want to have to be alone with that great silent space inside of her.

Suddenly, the empty fireplace burst into emerald green flame, making Elizabeth's eyes rise towards it. As Dumbledore's tall form unfolded itself from the fire, the witches and wizards on the surrounding walls jerked awake, many of them giving cries of welcome.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said softly, then sat in his chair and looked at Elizabeth. "I am terribly sorry about Mr Ferran, Elizabeth. I know that he was a good friend of yours."

"The best, actually," the girl said calmly, voice threatening to break.

"You will both be pleased to hear that none of your other fellow students will suffer lasting damage from the night's events," he continued. "Madam Pomfrey is patching everyone up. Nymphadora Tonks may need to spend a little time in St Mungo's, but it seems she will make a full recovery."

Both siblings contented themselves with nodding quietly at the carpet, which was growing lighter as the sky outside grew paler.

"I know how you're feeling," Dumbledore said quietly.

"No, you don't," Harry said, his voice suddenly loud and strong; white-hot anger burned inside him and his sister: Dumbledore knew nothing about their feelings.

"You see, Dumbledore?" Phineas Nigellus said slyly. "Never try to understand the students. They hate it. They would much rather be tragically misunderstood, wallow in self pity, stew in-"

"Silencio!" Liz growled, pointing her wand at the portrait, which silenced immediately.

"There is no shame in what you are feeling," the Headmaster continued as if nothing had interrupted him. "On the contrary, the fact you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength."

Elizabeth couldn't withhold her laughter. Several portraits stared at her.

"Our greatest strength? Being able to endure this suffering, this incessant pain is our greatest strength?" she said. "You have no idea..."

"What don't I know?" Dumbledore asked calmly.

"I'm really not in the mood for sharing and caring at the moment Professor. Actually, I never am."

"Elizabeth, suffering like this proves that you are still a woman! This is part of being human-"

"THEN I DON'T WANT TO BE HUMAN!" the girl bellowed, rising from her chair and flinging one of the delicate silver objects on Dumbledore's desk across the room; it shattered into a hundred tiny pieces against the wall. Several of the portraits let out yells of anger and fright. "I DON'T CARE!" The girl seized a lunascope and threw in into the fireplace. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT! I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE! I WANT THINGS TO BE LIKE THEY WERE WHEN I WASN'T HARRY'S SISTER!"

The girl knocked over the table on which the lunascope was sitting as she glided towards the door to the office. She tried to turn the knob, get out of this office before she broke anything else in her fit of rage, a fit of rage she was sure Harry would have had had she not burst first, but it didn't budge. She turned to Dumbledore.

"Let me out," she said, shaking with fury.

"No," Dumbledore said simply. They stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Let me out," Liz said again.

"No," the Headmaster repeated.

"Let her out," Harry growled. Elizabeth calmed herself to a reasonable level.

"Let me out," she said in a tone of voice that could rival Voldemort's.

"Not until I've had my say."

"Your say?" Harry shouted. "Do you - do you think I want to - do you think I give a - WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO SAY!"

"You will," Dumbledore said steadily, eye flickering towards Elizabeth's hands. "Because you are not nearly as angry with me as you ought to be. If you are to attack me, as I know Elizabeth is close to doing, I would like to have thoroughly earned it."

"What are you talking about?" the boy said.

"It is my fault that both Sirius and Amir died," the Headmaster said clearly. "Or should I say, almost entirely my fault - I will not be so arrogant as to claim responsibility for the whole. Sirius was a brave, clever and energetic man, and such men are not usually content to sit at home in hiding while they believe others are in danger. Nevertheless, Harry, you should have listened to your sister and not believed for a second that there was any necessity for you to go to the Department of Mysteries tonight. If I had been open with you two, as I should have been, you would have known a long time ago that Voldemort might try to lure you to the Department of Mysteries, and you would have never been tricked into going there, Amir would not have followed Elizabeth and Sirius would not have had to come after you, Harry... That blame lies with me, and with me alone."

Elizabeth was still standing at the door, her hand still firmly grasping the knob though she was unaware of it. She was gazing steadily at Dumbledore, expression unreadable and hardly breathing, listening yet barely understanding what she was hearing.

"Please sit down, both of you," Dumbledore said.

It was not an order, it was a request. The siblings hesitated, then they walked slowly across the office now littered with silver cogs and fragments of wood, and took the seats facing Dumbledore's desk.

"I owe you two an explanation, an explanation of an old man's mistakes," Dumbledore said. "For I see now that what I have done, and not done, with regard to the both of you, bears all the hallmarks of the failings of age. Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it is to be young... and I seem to have forgotten lately."

Elizabeth glanced outside. The sun was rising properly now; there was a rim of dazzling orange visible over the mountains and the sky above it was colourless and bright. Somehow it calmed the girl further.

"I guessed fifteen years ago," Dumbledore said, "when I saw your scars, what it might mean. I guessed that it might be the sign of a connection forged between you and Voldemort."

"We already know this," Harry said bluntly.

"Yes," the Headmaster said almost apologetically. "But you see - it is necessary to start with your scars. For it became apparent, shortly after you rejoined the magical world, that I was correct, and that the scars on your lip and forehead were giving you warnings when Voldemort was close to you, or else feeling powerful emotion."

"Obviously," Liz muttered to herself.

"And this ability of yours - to detect Voldemort's presence, even when he is disguised, and to know what he is feeling when his emotions are roused - has become more and more pronounced since Voldemort has returned to his own body and his full powers." Dumbledore paused and continued, "More recently, I became concerned that Voldemort might realise that this connection between you exists. Sure enough, there came a time when the both of you entered so far into his mind and thoughts that he sensed your presence."

"The night Mr Weasley was attacked," Elizabeth commented. "Professor Snape told me."

"But did you not wonder why it was not I who explained this to you? Why I did not teach you Occlumency, Harry - Elizabeth wasn't disappointed I am sure. Did you not wonder why I hadn't so much as looked at either of you for months?"

"Yeah, I did," the boy replied.

"You see," Dumbledore continued, "I believed it could not be long before Voldemort attempted to force his way into your minds, to manipulate and misdirect your thoughts, and I was not eager to give him more incentives to do so. I was sure that if he realised that our relationship was - or had ever been - closer than that of Headmaster and pupils, he would seize his chance to use you as a means to spy on me. I feared that the uses to which he would put you, the possibility that he might try and possess you. Harry, Elizabeth, I believe I was right to think that Voldemort would have made use of you in such a way. On those rare occasions when we had close contact, I thought I saw a shadow of behind your eyes."

Elizabeth remembered the feeling that a dormant snake had risen in her, ready to strike, in those few moments where she and Dumbledore had made eye-contact.

"Voldemort's aim in possessing you, as he demonstrated tonight by possessing you, Harry, would not have been my destruction. It would have been yours. He hoped, when he possessed you briefly a short while ago, that I would sacrifice you in the hope of killing him. So you see, I have been trying, in distancing myself from you, to protect you. An old man's mistake..."

He sighed deeply. Elizabeth was letting the words wash over her. She would have been so interested to know all this a few months ago, but now it was meaningless compared to the gaping hole inside her that was the loss of Amir; none of it mattered anymore.

"Sirius told me that you felt Voldemort awake inside you the very night that you two had the vision of Arthur Weasley's attack. I knew at once that my worst fears were correct: Voldemort had realised he could use you. In an attempt to arm you against Voldemort's assaults on your minds, I arranged Occlumency lessons with Professor Snape," Dumbledore paused. He continued in the same calm voice, "While Elizabeth was successful in her extra lessons, Professor Snape discovered that you, Harry, had been dreaming about the door to the Department of Mysteries for months. Voldemort, of course, had been obsessed with the possibility of hearing the Prophecy ever since he regained his body; and he dwelled on the door, so did you, though you did not know what it meant.

"And then Rookwood, who worked in the Department of Mysteries before his arrest, telling Voldemort what we had known all along - that the Prophecies held in the Ministry of Magic are heavily protected. Only the people to whom they refer to can lift them from the shelves without suffering madness: in this case, either Voldemort himself would have to enter the Ministry and risk revealing himself at last - or else one of you would have to take it for him. It became a matter of even greater urgency that you should master Occlumency."

"But I didn't and Liz did," Harry muttered. "I didn't practise, I didn't bother, I could've stopped myself having those dreams, Hermione kept telling me to do it, if I had he'd never have been able to show me where to go, and - Sirius Wouldn't - Sirius wouldn't-"

The boy cut himself off and he hung his head. But he quickly looked back up.

"I tried to check if he'd really taken Sirius! Liz and me and Hermione, we went into Umbridge's office; we spoke to Kreacher in the fire and he said that Sirius wasn't there, he said he'd gone out!"

"Kreacher lied," Elizabeth said calmly. "We aren't his master, he could lie to us without even needing to punish himself."

"Correct," Dumbledore said. "Kreacher intended for you to go to the Ministry of Magic."

"He - he sent us there on purpose?" Harry said, baffled.

"Oh yes. Kreacher, I am afraid, has been serving more than one master for months."

"How? He hasn't been out of Grimmauld Place for years."

"Kreacher seized his opportunity shortly before Christmas," Dumbledore said, "when Sirius apparently shouted at him to 'get out'. He took Sirius at his word, and interpreted this as an order to leave the house. He went to the only Black family member for whom he had any respect left... Black's cousin Narcissa, sister of Bellatrix and wife of-"

"Lucius Malfoy," Liz growled.

"How do you know all this?" Harry asked.

"Kreacher told me last night," Dumbledore stated. "You see, when you gave Professor Snape that cryptic warning, he realised that you had had a vision of Sirius trapped in the bowels of the Department of Mysteries." Elizabeth sent a pointed look towards her brother. "He, like you, immediately attempted to contact Sirius. I should explain that members of the Order of the Phoenix have more reliable methods of communicating that the fire in Dolores Umbridge's office. Professor Snape found that Sirius was alive and safe in Grimmauld Place.

"However, when you, Harry, did not return from the forest and Elizabeth went in with the others, Professor Snape grew worried that you still believed Sirius to be a captive of Lord Voldemort's. He alerted certain Order members at once." Dumbledore heaved a great sigh and continued, "Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt and your Godfather, Elizabeth, Remus Lupin, were at the Headquarters when he made contact. All agreed to go to your aid at once. Professor Snape requested that Sirius remained behind, as he needed someone to remain at the Headquarters to tell me what had happened, for I was due there at any moment. In the meantime he, Professor Snape, intended to search the forest for you.

"Of course, Sirius did not wish to remain behind while the others went to search for the two of you. He delegated to Kreacher the task of telling me what had happened. And so it was that when I arrived in Grimmauld Place shortly after they had all left for the Ministry, it was the elf who told me - laughing fit to burst - where Sirius had gone."

"He was laughing?" Harry said in a hollow voice.

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore said. "You see, Kreacher was not able to betray us totally. He is not Secret Keeper for the Order, he could not give the Malfoys our whereabouts, or tell them any of the Order's confidential plans that he had been forbidden to reveal. He was bound by the enchantments of his kind, which is to say that he couldn't disobey a direct order from his master, Sirius Black. But he gave Narcissa information of the sort that is very valuable to Voldemort, yet must have seemed much to trivial for Sirius to think of banning him from repeating it."

"Like what?" Harry asked.

"Like the fact that the people Sirius care most about in the world were you," Dumbledore said quietly. "Like the fact that you, Harry, were coming to regard Sirius as a mixture of father and brother. Voldemort knew this already, of course, that Sirius was in the Order, and that you knew where he was - but Kreacher's information made him realise that the one person for whom you would go to any lengths to rescue, Harry, was Sirius Black."

"So... when we asked Kreacher if Sirius was there last night..."

"Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy - undoubtedly under Voldemort's instructions - had told Kreacher he must find a way of keeping Sirius out of the way once you had seen the vision of him being tortured. Then, if you decided to check whether Sirius was at home or not, Kreacher would be able to pretend he was not. Kreacher injured Buckbeak the Hippogriff yesterday, and, at the moment when you two made your appearance in the fire, Sirius was upstairs tending to him."

"And Kreacher told you all this... and laughed?" Harry croaked.

"He did not wish to tell me," Dumbledore said. "But I am a sufficiently accomplished Legilimens myself to know when I am being lied to and I - persuaded him - to tell me the full story before I left for the Department of Mysteries."

"And to think Hermione kept telling everyone to be nice to him," Elizabeth scoffed.

"She was quite right, Elizabeth. I warned Sirius when we adopted Grimmauld Place as our Headquarters that Kreacher must be treated with kindness and respect. I also told him that Kreacher could be dangerous to us. I do not think Sirius took me very seriously, or that he ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human's-"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT SIRIUS LIKE THAT!" Harry yelled, back on his feet and furious again. "What about Snape? You're not talking about him, are you? When I told him Voldemort had Sirius he just sneered at me as usual-"

"And don't you start talking about my Head of House that way, Harry," Liz said, her anger hidden just below her sharp tone. "You know Professor Snape had to pretend not to take you seriously in front of Umbridge or else she'd be suspicious."

"Your sister is quite right, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. "As I have explained, Professor Snape informed the Order as soon as possible about what you had said. It was he who deduced where you had gone when you didn't return from the forest."

"Professor," Elizabeth began, "did Professor Snape do something to the Veritaserum that Umbridge was trying to get us to drink? It wasn't odorless like it was supposed to have been."

"Ah yes, he was hoping you'd notice that," Dumbledore said with a ghost of a smile. "It was fake Veritaserum that Professor Snape was giving to Dolores when she was attempting to extract information out of you."

Harry most likely disregarded this, but Elizabeth felt a surge of pride. She was right about Snape, she always had been, and now Dumbledore, someone her brother regarded in high esteem, told him the exact same thing; Snape was on their side.

"Snape - Snape goaded Sirius about staying in the house - he made out Sirius was a coward-"

"Sirius was much too clever to have allowed such feeble taunts to hurt him," Dumbledore reasoned.

"Snape stopped giving me Occlumency lessons!" Harry snarled. "He threw me out of his office!"

"I am aware of it," Dumbledore said heavily. "I have already said that it was a mistake for me not to teach you, Harry, though I was sure, at the time, that nothing could have been more dangerous than to open your mind even further to Voldemort while in my presence-"

"Snape made it worse! My scar always hurt worse after lessons with him - how do you know he wasn't trying to soften me up for Voldemort, make it easier to get inside my-"

"Because he taught me too, you blithering idiot! And I was able to block You-Know-Who from entering my mind!" Liz snapped. "Don't trust him, fine. But it's a stupid mistake on your part."

"I trust Severus Snape, Harry," Dumbledore said simply. "And obviously, so does your sister. But I forgot - another old man's mistake - that some wounds run too deep for the healing. I thought Professor Snape could overcome his feelings about your father - clearly, I was wrong."

"But that's okay, isn't it?" Harry yelled, ignoring the scandalised faces and mutterings of the portraits on the walls. "It's okay for Snape to hate my dad, but it's not okay for Sirius to hate Kreacher?"

Elizabeth wanted scream. Did her brother not see and hear anything during the time he was in the Pensieve, watching Snape's memory like he was at the movies? Did he not realise that his father and Sirius Black had bullied and tormented the man for years on end and until he finally snapped, accidentally ridding himself of the only friend he had; their mother, Lily Evans? Was he blind? Was he deaf? Or was he simply stupid?

"Sirius did not hate Kreacher," Dumbledore said. "He regarded him as a servant unworthy of much interest or notice. Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike... the fountain we destroyed tonight told a lie. We wizards have mistreated and abused our fellows for too long, and we are now reaping our reward."

"SO SIRIUS GOT WHAT HE DESERVED THEN?"

"I did not say that, nor will you even hear me say it, Harry," Dumbledore said calmly. "Sirius was not a cruel man, he was kind to house-elves in general. He had no love for Kreacher, because Kreacher was a living reminder of the home Sirius had hated."

"Yeah, he did hate it! But you made him stay locked up in there, that's why he wanted to get out last night! People don't like being locked up! You did it to me and Elizabeth last summer - kept us cooped up!"

Dumbledore closed his eyes and buried his face in his long-fingered hands. Elizabeth watched him, but this uncharacteristic sign of exhaustion, or sadness, or whatever it was from Dumbledore, did not soften Harry's or her own gaze upon him. On the contrary, she felt even angrier that Dumbledore was showing signs of weakness. He had no business being weak when she and her brother wanted to rage and storm him.

Dumbledore lowered his hands and surveyed the siblings through his half-moon spectacles. He heaved a great sigh.

"It's time for me to tell you what I should have told you five years ago, Harry. Elizabeth, I will have to speak with you privately, but for now... I am going to tell you everything that happened to you since the death of your parents..."


	98. Not Really a Favour

Boredom killed. You would have expected Elizabeth to have listened to every word Dumbledore had to say about Harry's upbringing like he was talking about some great tragedy that needed to be heard. The thing is that everyone in the wizarding world knew this story to the closest detail. A few superfluous details were left out when someone told their children about the great Harry Potter, like the fact his eyes were green or that he was as tall as his father, but the rest was quite accurate, save the few things that Dumbledore kept to himself. However, Liz didn't listen to those details either. Instead, she stood in front of the window and stared aimlessly out at the grounds of the castle.

The landscape was every vivid colour, every one of them as fresh as a new painting straight from Rome. The brilliant greens of the grass and trees tried to banish every dark thought and the sky lifted the eye in a way that brought Elizabeth to admire and get lost in the beauty of the strands of drifting white cloud. The trees were deep with mid summer foliage and the flowers rioted in the jubilant way that only the most divine of blooms can.

It was only when the door to Dumbledore's office opened and shut loudly that Elizabeth came out of her daze. She didn't turn towards the Headmaster yet, but waited until he called for her, letting him know that she had no desire to listen to whatever excuse he had to make to compensate for the mistakes he made in the past. Eventually, he spoke, voice as calm as the surface of the Black Lake.

"You will have your chance to rage at me - to do whatever you like - when I have finished, Elizabeth. I will not stop you," the Headmaster said. "But for now, please sit, I have much to tell you."

The Slytherin stood looking out the window for a few more moments then turned around, face as inscrutable as it had ever been. She looked at Dumbledore for a moment then uncrossed her arms and sat down in the chair she was sitting in before. Dumbledore stared at the sunlit grounds for a second, then back at Elizabeth.

"Five years ago you arrived at Hogwarts, Elizabeth, safe and whole, as I had planned and intended. Well, not quite whole," Dumbledore began. "You hadn't been condemned to a horrid family like your brother had, but you felt different, out of place in the Granger household, didn't you? I knew you would when I left you on their doorstep."

He paused. Elizabeth said nothing.

"You might ask - and with good reason - why it had to be so. Why you couldn't live with your father? Why could some wizarding family not have taken you in? Many would have done so gladly, including your Godfather, Remus. Many would have been honoured and delighted to raise you as their daughter.

"My answer to you is that my priority was to keep you alive. You and your brother were in perhaps more danger than anyone but I realised. Voldemort had been vanquished hours before, but his supporters - and many of them are almost as terrible as he - were still at large, angry, desperate and violent. And I had to make my decision too, with regard to the years ahead. Did I believe that Voldemort was gone for ever? No. I knew not whether it would be ten, twenty or fifty years before he returned, but I was sure he would do so, and I was sure too, knowing him as I have done, that he would not rest until he killed you and your brother.

"I knew that Voldemort's knowledge of magic is perhaps more extensive than any wizard alive. I knew that even my most complex and powerful protective spells and charms were unlikely to be invincible if he ever returned to full power.

"But I knew too where Voldemort was weak. And so I made my decision. You were to be protected by an ancient magic of which he knows, which he despises, and which he has always, therefore underestimated, to his cost. I am speaking, of course, of the fact your mother died to save you. She gave you a lingering protection he never expected, a protection that flows in your veins to this day. However, I couldn't leave you and your brother with the Dursleys, it would have been too suspicious and very unwise to keep you together, therefore I left you in the care of the Grangers."

"Did you know that Hermione was a witch at the time?" Elizabeth asked.

"I did not," the man admitted. "That was purely coincidental. But I told Mr and Mrs Granger, in the note that I had left with you, that should anything strange happen in your presence, to write to me at once."

"Did you also tell them to lie to me about being 'adopted'? And what the hell made you so sure that they would take me?"

"The Grangers had welcomed Hermione into the world just over two years prior to the night James and your mother were killed. They had only just moved to the house you were left at and didn't know anyone, therefore a second two year old child overnight would alarm no one."

"I think you're mistaken, Professor. I was born the same year as Harry, was I not?"

"No, my dear Elizabeth. You are in fact an entire year older than your brother, which is why it was easier for the Grangers to disguise you as Hermione's twin sister. Quite tragically as well, they had indeed lost Hermione's real twin during childbirth. This was the reason why I was convinced that the Grangers would take you in - to fill the void of their lost child."

"Then when was I born?"

"May 7th, 1979. Only four months before Hermione."

"And you told the Grangers to lie to me?" Liz said angrily.

"No. I told them to keep your arrival into the family a secret until they thought you were ready to hear it. Unfortunately for them, you found out before they could tell you."

"Yeah, apparently they were scared," Elizabeth scoffed. "They just didn't want to admit that I was just the second child and that Hermione was the favourite. 'You're being stubborn, Elizabeth, follow your sister's example.' Please..."

"But they took you in, didn't they? And in doing so, they sealed the charm I had placed upon you. Your mother's sacrifice made the bond of blood the strongest shield I could give you."

"I still don't-"

"While you can still call home the place where the charm was sealed, there you cannot be touched of harmed by Voldemort. Of course, you living at Remus' cottage wasn't part of the plan, but it matters not. Voldemort shed your mother's blood, but it lives in you. Her blood became your refuge. And while you don't visit the Granger household any longer, you see Hermione nearly every day and she is part of what you once called home. As long as you and Hermione are in contact once a year, Voldemort can't hurt you."

"This is great and all, but what's this got to do with anything?" Elizabeth said, getting irritated.

"Five years ago, then," Dumbledore continued as though nothing had interrupted his story, "you arrived at Hogwarts, neither as happy or as content with your family as I would have liked, perhaps, yet alive and healthy. You were not a pampered little princess, but as normal a girl as I could have hoped under the circumstances. Thus far, my plan was working well.

"And then... well, you remember the events of your first year at Hogwarts quite as clearly as I do. You and your brother rose magnificently to the challenge that faced you and sooner - much sooner - than I had anticipated, your brother found himself face to face with Voldemort while you had taken the correct potion to return whence you came from. Both of you survived again, but you did more than survive. You delayed his return to full power and strength. You fought a man's fight. I was... prouder of you than I can say.

"Yet there was a flaw in this wonderful plan of mine," Dumbledore admitted. "An obvious flaw that I knew, even then, might be the undoing of it all. And yet, knowing how important is was that my plan should succeed, I told myself that I would not permit this flaw from ruining it. I alone could prevent this, so I alone must be strong. And there was my first test, as you and your brother lay in the hospital wing, weak from your struggle to the Philosopher's stone. Ought I have told you this then?"

"I don't think it would have been wise, no," Elizabeth said truthfully.

"Exactly what I thought. The knowledge would have been too much at such a young age. And the following year, well, it seemed to me that twelve was, after all, hardly better than eleven to receive such information. You and your brother were still so young, you see, and I couldn't find it in myself to spoil your nights of triumph...

"Do you see, Elizabeth? Do you see the flaw in my brilliant plan, now? I had fallen into the trap I had foreseen, that I had told myself I could avoid, that I must avoid."

Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed. What flaw was there except for the fact he kept pushing the truth further away from herself and her brother?

"I cared about you too much," Dumbledore said simply. "I cared more about your happiness than your knowing the truth, more for your peace of mind than my plan, more for yours and your brother's lives than the lives that might be lost if the plan failed."

"In other words..." Liz began slowly, "you acted just as You-Know-Who expects people who love to act."

"Exactly," Dumbledore sighed. "We entered your third year. I watched you try to determine who you were, I watched you struggle to repel Dementors, as you found Remus, learned who and what he was. Was I to tell you then, at the moment when you had finally found a part of your true family? But now, at the age of thirteen, my excuses were running out. Young you might have been, but you had proved you were exceptional. My conscience was uneasy, Elizabeth. I knew the time must come soon...

"But you came out of the maze last year, having watched Cedric Diggory die, having escaped death so narrowly yourself, having Voldemort mention your father... and I did not tell you, though I knew, now Voldemort had returned, I must do it soon. And now, tonight, I know you have long been ready for the knowledge I have kept from you and your brother for so long, because you have proved to me that I should have placed this burden upon you before this. My only defense is this: I have watched you struggling under more burdens than any student who has ever passed through this school, even your brother, and I could not bring myself to add another - the greatest one of all."

"You're not going to tell me who my father is, are you, Professor?" Elizabeth sighed, running her fingers through her knotted ebony hair.

"I am afraid not, Elizabeth. That information is not mine to divulge, but your father's, and he will do so when the time is right," Dumbledore said almost sadly. The girl nodded, dejected, and the man continued, "Voldemort tried to kill you when you were a child because of a Prophecy made shortly after your birth. He knew that it had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you believing he was fulfilling the terms of the Prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken, when the curse intended to kill you and your brother backfired. And so, since his return to his body, and particularly since your extraordinary escape from him last year, he has been determined to hear that Prophecy in its entirety. This is the weapon he has been seeking to assiduously since his return: the knowledge of how to destroy you."

"The Prophecy was smashed in the Death Chamber," Liz said simply. Then she remembered something, "But someone had to have made it, and someone must have heard it."

"I heard it," Dumbledore said. "On a cold, wet night sixteen years ago, in a room above the bar at the Hog's Head Inn. I had gone there to see an applicant for the post of Divination teacher, though it was against my inclination to continue at all. The applicant however, was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous and gifted Seer and I thought it common politeness to meet her."

"Professor Trelawney," Elizabeth whispered.

"I was disappointed. It seemed that she had not a trace of the gift herself. I told her, courteously I hope, that I did not think she would be suitable for the post. I turned to leave."

Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Elizabeth to the black cabinet that stood beside Fawkes' perch. He bent down, slid back a catch and took from inside it the shallow stone basin, carved with runes around the edges, in which she had seen James and Sirius tormenting Professor Snape. Dumbledore walked back to his desk, placed the Pensieve upon it, and raised his wand to his own temple. From it, he withdrew silvery, fine strands of thought clinging to the wand and dropped them into the basin. He sat back down at his desk and watched his thoughts swirl and drift inside the Pensieve for a moment. Then, with a sigh, he raised his wand and prodded the silvery substance with his wand.

A figure rose out of it, draped in shawls, her eyes magnified to an enormous size by her glasses, and she revolved slowly, her feet in the basin. But when Sybill Trelawney spoke, it was not in her usual ethereal, mystic voice, but in harsh and hoarse tones Elizabeth had never imagined the woman could produce.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."

The slowly revolving Professor Trelawney sank back into the silver mass below and vanished. The silence within the office was absolute. Neither Dumbledore nor Elizabeth nor any of the portraits made a sound. Even the quietly croaking Fawkes had become silent. Liz felt as though something was closing in on her, as though something was making it difficult for her to breathe. But she was also thoroughly confused.

"It means - Harry."

"Yes, it does."

"Then what does all of this have to do with me? Why did You-Know-Who give me this scar," Liz said, hand flinging up to her mouth. "Why does Harry have to - to... and not me?"

"This is what I did not want your brother to hear," Dumbledore said serenely. That scar of yours was even less intentional than the one left on Harry. The Killing Curse that Voldemort cast was only meant for Harry, since he knew that you weren't born at the end of July. However, extraordinarily, as the curse was cast, not only did it rebound on him and Voldemort, but a part hit you as well, hence the scar on your lip. Unlike Harry's scar, though, it doesn't contain as much of a connection with Voldemort, hence your ability to resist him so easily. Or perhaps it is the fact that your are in Slytherin that helped you."

"What does me being in Slytherin have to do with any of this?"

"It appears that Occlumency and Legilimency are two subjects in which Slytherins seem to excel. For instance, as you know, Professor Snape and Voldemort are quite skilled in both," Dumbledore said.

As if he had been awaiting his queue, Professor Snape quietly opened the door and calmly walked into the round office. He glanced momentarily at the fragments of silver instruments that Elizabeth had thrown to the ground now glistening like raindrops in the morning sun and then at his student before quietly sitting down on the chair next to Elizabeth.

The girl's eyebrows furrowed and she looked from Professor Dumbledore to Professor Snape, disregarding the fact that she usually hid her bewilderment or any emotion that could let another person know how she was feeling. But she knew she could trust the both of them, no matter how much Dumbledore had kept from her or how little she knew about her Head of House; so far, none of them had given her reason not to be trusted.

"Ah, Severus, just in time," Dumbledore said. Usually, sentences like this, from Dumbledore, came with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. However, this time, it came with a solemn gaze and a curt nod.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Headmaster?" Snape said, his face impassive but his eyes gleaming with concern.

"I am quite certain that this is our best option, no matter how much we all dislike it, Severus."

"What are you talking about? What aren't you telling me?" Liz asked, beginning to panic.

"Elizabeth, I need to ask something of you," Dumbledore said, leaning his elbows on his desk.

"You need me to do something for you? Seriously?" the girl said, instantly angered. "You tell me that my brother needs to die, that I'm mysteriously resilient against You-Know-Who, and that you've been meaning to tell me the story of my life for the past five years - and know you expect me to do what seems like a highly dangerous favour when you can't even tell me who my father is? You know what, Professor, screw you. And I mean that with the greatest possible respect."

"I understand your frustration, Elizabeth-"

"Oh, you do, don't you?" Liz said, letting out a dry chuckle. She continued quite composed, her voice, however, getting more and more severe as she went, "You know how it feels to be lied to by your parents and to learn that you have no actual family? You know how it feels to learn that your mother died saving your life? You know how it feels when this stupid fucking scar starts burning in His presence? You know how it feels to see your best friend die right in front of your eyes, to see your brother's Godfather die right in front of you? You know how it feels to find out that your brother, your only blood, is destined to die at the hands of a madman so he can save the world?" She paused, fists clenched but still appearing calm enough so that most people wouldn't be able to tell she was furious. "WELL, DO YOU!?"

For a long time, no one spoke. Not even the portraits had anything to say and a sudden sneeze from one of them made a few of them dash out of sight, afraid that they'd get silenced like Phineas Nigellus Black had been. Somewhere far beyond the office walls, Elizabeth could hear the sound of voices, students heading down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast, she supposed. It seemed impossible to her that there could still be people in this world who still desired food, who laughed, who neither knew or cared that Amir Ferran and Sirius Black were gone forever.

"Elizabeth..." Snape said quietly and almost hesitantly, making the girl look towards him. "This... favour, isn't really a favour."

"Then what is it?" the girl said sharply.

"It's a mission," Dumbledore said, "for the Order of the Phoenix."


	99. My Dear Elizabeth

**HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED RETURNS**

 **In a brief statement on Friday night, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge confirmed that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned to his country and is once more active.**

 **"It is with great regret that I must confirm that the wizard styling himself Lord - well, you know you I mean - is alive and among us again," said Fudge, looking tired and flustered as he addressed reporters. "It is with almost equal regret that we report a mass revolt of the Dementors of Azkaban, who have shown themselves averse to continuing in the Ministry's employ. We believe the Dementors are currently taking direction from Lord - Thingy.**

 **"We urge the magical population to remain vigilant. The Ministry is currently publishing guides to elementary home and personal defense which will be delivered free to all wizarding homes within the coming month."**

 **The Minister's statement was met with dismay and alarm from the wizarding community, which as recently as last Wednesday was receiving Ministry assurance that there was 'no truth whatsoever in these persistent rumours that You-Know-Who is operating amongst us once more'.**

 **Details of the events that led to the Ministry turnaround are still hazy, though is it believed He Who Must Not Be Named and a select band of followers (known as Death Eaters) gained entry to the Ministry of Magic itself on Thursday evening.**

 **Albus Dumbledore, newly reinstated Headmaster of Hogwarts School or Witchcraft and Wizardry, reinstated member of the International Confederation of Wizards and reinstated Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, has been so unavailable for comment. He has insisted over the past year that You-Know-Who is not dead, as was widely hoped and believed, but is recruiting followers once more for a fresh attempt to seize power.**

 **Meanhwile, the 'Boy and Girl Who Lived' -**

"There you are, you two, I knew they'd drag you into it somehow," Hemione said looking over the paper and at the siblings.

They were in the hospital wing. Harry was sitting on the end of Ron's bed and they were both listening to Hermione read the front page of the Daily Prophet. Elizabeth, who hadn't spoken as much as a 'hello' since her exit from Dumbldore's office, was seated in a nearby chair and playing with ends of her hair; Ginny, whose ankle had been mended in a heartbeat by Madam Pomfrey, was curled up at the foot of Hermione's bed; Neville, whose nose had likewise been returned to its normal size and colour, was in a chair between the two beds; and Luna, who had dropped in to visit, clutching the latest edition of The Quibbler, was reading the magazine upside down and apparently not taking in a word Hermione was saying.

"They're the 'Boy and Girl Who Lived' again now, though, aren't they?" Ron said darkly. "Not such deluded show-offs anymore, eh?"

"Yes, they're very complimentary about you two, now," Hermione said, scanning down the article. "'Voices of truth... perceived as unbalanced but never wavered in their story... forced to hear ridicule and slander...' Hm, I notice they don't mention the fact that it was them doing all the ridiculing and slandering in the Prophet," the girl continued. "So anyway, what's going on at school?"

"Well, Flitwick got rid of Fred and George's swamp," Ginny said, chewing on a chocolate frog, "he did it in about three seconds. But he left a tiny patch under the window and roped it off."

"Why?"

"Oh, he says it was a really good bit of magic," Ginny shrugged.

"I think he left it as a monument to Fred and George," Ron said through a mouthful of chocolate. "They sent me all these, you know," he told everyone, pointing at the small mountain of Frogs beside him, "Must be doing all right out of that joke shop, eh? Obviously, we've got to give some credit to Liz over there."

Elizabeth managed a small smile and saw that Hermione was looking at her rather disapprovingly, as she always did. But she didn't for long and turned back to everyone else.

"So has all the trouble stopped now Dumbledore's back?"

"Yes," Neville said, "everything's settled right back to normal."

"Filch is as miserable as ever... kept saying that Umbridge was the best thing to ever happen to the school," Ginny said, looking over her shoulder at Dolores Umbridge lying in her own hospital bed.

"Madam Pomfrey says she's just in shock," Hermione said.

"Sulking, more like," Ginny commented.

"Yeah, she shows signs of life if you do this," Ron said, and with his tongue, made soft clip-clopping noises. Umbridge sat bolt upright, looking around wildly.

"Anything wrong Professor?" Madam Pomfrey asked, sticking her hear out of her office.

"No... no..." Umbridge said, sinking back into her pillows. "No, I must have been dreaming..."

Hermione and Ginny muffled their laughter in their bedclothes.

"Speaking of Centaurs," Hermione said, "who's Divination teacher now? Is Firenze staying?"

"He's got to," Harry said, "the other Centaurs won't take him back, will they?"

"Looks like he and Trelawney are both going to teach," Ginny said.

"Bet Dumbledore wishes he could've gotten rid of Trelawney for good," Ron said, now munching on his fourteenth Frog. "Mind you, the whole subject's useless if you ask me."

"How can you say that?" Hemione demanded. "After we've just learned that there are real prophecies?"

Elizabeth's heart began to race and Harry cast her a glance. Neither of them had told Ron, Hermione or anyone else about the contents of the Prophecy. Neville had told them that it smashed while Harry and Liz were pulling him up the steps in the Death Chamber and neither sibling had corrected him. To top that off, no matter how many time Harry asked his sister what Dumbledore wanted to speak about in private, Elizabeth simply refused say anything except that it was the business of the people in the room, only.

"It's a pity it broke," Hemione said quietly.

"Yeah, it is," Ron said. "Still, at least You-Know-Who never found out what was in it either - where are you two going?" he added, looking both surprised and disappointed as Harry stood and grabbed his sister.

"Eh - Hagrid's," Harry said. "You know, he just got back and I promised him that Liz and I would go down and see him, tell him how you're all doing."

"Oh, all right then," Ron said grumpily. "Wish we could come."

"Say hello to him for us, will you?" Hermione said.

Harry nodded and gave a wave of his hand as he and Elizabeth exited the room. The girl was already many feet ahead of him and he had to run to catch up to her. He didn't even take the time to notice that the school was rather quiet for a Sunday and that most people were probably outside enjoying the summer. Instead, he was dead set on catching up to his sister, who seemed unusually quiet, if that was even possible.

"Elizabeth, wait!" he called, then finally reached her. "Liz why can't you just tell me?"

"Oh, this again? I thought we were going down to see Hagrid," Elizabeth said calmly.

"We are, but I still want to know what Dumbledore told you that was so secret that he couldn't even tell me! And why did Snape walk in there after?"

"It's none of your concern, Harry. What was said in Dumbledore's office when you left, is for the ears of the people who remained."

"I'm just worried-"

"Worried?" Liz scoffed, stopping in her tracks and turning to face Harry. "You should be worrying about yourself, Harry. I'm not the one who has to get killed in order for us to win the war. You are."

"Liz, you're my sister!" Harry said sternly. "I care and I worry! Just tell me, all right?"

"Even if I did want to tell you, which I don't, I'm not at liberty to say," the girl sighed. "Dumbledore doesn't want me saying anything to anyone."

"Why?"

"Look, all I can tell you, is that you need to trust me, all right? You need to trust me even when it seems like you can't anymore."

Harry couldn't have looked more confused then he did now. And as his mouth opened to speak, nearby footsteps made him rethink his choice. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle emerged from the door that lead to the Slytherin Dungeons. The blond stopped dead and stared at Harry, but his gaze rapidly shifted towards Elizabeth. Her insides squirmed when she looked at his face. It wasn't on the perfect features that Elizabeth dwelled - not on the blue flecked grey eyes, nor his obnoxiously soft lips. Instead, it was the small blemishes and rare insecurities that allured her. The barely noticeable scar over his eyebrow, the small crinkle his nose made when he smiled or laughed. It was in that moment, regardless of what had happened, that Elizabeth knew she found the person who was perfectly imperfect for her.

When Draco laid eyes on the girl, he lost himself. All the mistakes he'd ever made, and there had been many, were gone - every impure thought erased. All negativity was erased, almost like a spiritual enlightenment. He knew that her sparkling green eyes could see right through him and his facade, but he knew that they didn't linger on the anger, nor the deceit, nor the selfishness. Elizabeth looked past every flaw to find find the person inside, the real Draco, and in that moment he also knew that he was perfectly imperfect for her too.

Quite indifferent to the fact that her brother was standing behind her, Elizabeth walked over to the blond and dropped her head onto his chest, seeking comfort and not rejecting it, for once. Draco was surprised, just like Harry was, but didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around her thin frame, swaddling her in the warmth and comfort that she desperately needed. He gave her the respect of an equal but cradled her like a cherished child. She let her tense body sag, her muscles become loose and her hands soon found themselves wound around the young Malfoy's back. In that embrace, she felt her worries and grief loose their sting and her optimism raise its head from the dirt; she could get through this, she could get through anything. Perhaps the hope had been there all along, but without some love it was trapped, like crystals in a stone.

Elizabeth felt Draco brush her hair back with his fingers and kiss her kiss her gently in the middle of the Entrance Hall, in front of Crabbe and Goyle, in front of Harry. But Liz didn't care anymore. Harry couldn't tell her who to love and who to trust. He couldn't put limits on what he thought was or wasn't appropriate. Elizabeth could love the whole world, any person of any age, gender and background. Elizabeth Evans was allowed to love Draco Malfoy. And like Dumbledore said, it was the fact that she and Harry cared, loved, that kept them human, made them better than Voldemort.

"Get your hands off her, Malfoy!" Harry bellowed.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist, Harry," Liz replied calmly, Draco's arm swung lazily over her shoulders.

"You don't just walk up to someone and - and kiss them! Especially not - that!"

"Well, that happens to be my boyfriend since the middle of last year, Harry. We didn't make it public because of reactions like this!"

"So you were dating when you went to the Yule Ball together! You lied-"

"We weren't dating, then, Potter," Draco snapped. "I wish we were, but I can't have everything can I?"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, hand drawing his wand.

"Harry!"

"Potter!"

The voice rang across the Entrance Hall. Snape had emerged from the staircase leading down to his office and strode over to the five students standing in the middle of the Hall.

"What are you doing, Potter?" Snape said as coldly as ever.

"I'm trying to decide what curse to use on Malfoy and potentially my sister, sir," Harry said fiercely.

"Come off it, Harry," Liz sighed.

Snape stared at them.

"Put that wand away at once," he said curtly. "Ten points from Gryff- Ah. I see there are no longer any points in the Gryffindor hourglass to take away. In that case, Potter, we will simply have to-"

"Add some more?"

Professor McGonagall had just stumped up the stone steps into the castle; she was carrying a tartan carpetbag in one hand and leaning heavily on a walking stick with the other, but otherwise looked quite well.

"Professor McGonagall!" Snape said, striding forwards. "Out of St Mungo's, I see!"

"Yes, Professor Snape," the woman replied, shrugging off her travelling cloak, "I'm quite as good as new. You two - Crabbe - Goyle." She beckoned them forward and trust her carpetbag and cloak into their hands. "Here, take these up to my office for me." They turned stumped away. "Right then. Well, I think Potter and his friends ought to have fifty points apiece for alerting the world to the return of You-Know-Who! What do you say, Professor Snape?"

"What?" he snapped, although Elizabeth was quite sure he understood. "Oh - well - I suppose."

"So that's fifty each for Potter, the two Weasleys, Longbottom and Miss Granger. Oh, and I can't forget Miss Lovegood and you Miss Evans. Also..." McGonagall looked sadly at Liz. "I will award another fifty for Mr Ferran. I'm sorry to hear about him, dear."

Elizabeth nodded stiffly and avoided her eyes. She was in no mood for being pitied.

"Now, you wanted to take away ten points from Mr Potter? So, there we are..." A few rubies retreated into the upper bulb of the hourglass. "Well, you three, I think you ought to be outside on a glorious day like this," McGonagall continued briskly.

"Come on, Draco," Liz said quietly and grabbed her boyfriend's hand, dragging him outside. She stopped halfway out. "I'm going to get my guitar, don't move."

"Yes, m'mam," the blond chuckled.

Elizabeth sprinted back the way she came and nearly bumped into Harry, McGonagall and Snape who were still standing there for some reason. She dashed down the steps, muttered the password and set off towards her dorm. Inside, Aslan was immediately rubbing at her legs as Liz tossed her suitcase for her shrunken guitar. It had been a while since she'd played it and was eager to play a few tunes under the tree she always sat at, the tree that just happened to be the place where the Marauders used to hang out. Guitar in hand, Elizabeth ran back to Draco whom she dragged off towards the beech tree.

"Slow down, would you? You'll mess up my hair!"

"Oh, excuse me, Princess."

It was odd enough seeing Draco Malfoy smile so much, but the stares that reached the couple were mostly directed at their intertwined hands. Elizabeth was sure that the news of Draco Malfoy and Elizabeth Evans making their relationship official will have spread by next morning and she was also sure that she would lose the trust and friendship of many people in the process, but it didn't bother her much. Dumbledore said it would happen, but he also said that if her mission went as planned, it would all go back to normal.

Sitting at the edge of the Black Lake, singing and strumming her guitar to Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town by Pearl Jam, Elizabeth began to think. She knew she probably shouldn't think too much because her mood would diminish, but she couldn't help it. It didn't matter that Draco was staring at her in a way that made her highly self-conscious or that he was smiling and happy, the terrible weight of grief was dragging at her. And with the loss of Amir and Sirius so raw and fresh in her mind, she couldn't muster any great sense of fear at the mission that Dumbledore had confided in her. It was sunny, and the grounds around her and Draco were full of laughing people, and even though she too was smiling and laughing with her boyfriend, it was still very hard to believe, as she sat there singing and strumming, that her brother's life must end in murder and that she was meant to...

The sun had set before Elizabeth realised she was cold and that Draco had draped his blazer over her shoulders. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, gently rubbing her arm. Despite the heaviness in Liz's stomach, it fluttered at the feeling of her body pressed against his. His touch made the everything warmer somehow and her task ahead didn't seem as daunting anymore. It would all be all right as long as Draco was there.

* * *

Elizabeth's nerves were shot. In her building anxiety, she constructed elaborate rationalisations for why everything would turn out all right, but still, the nagging voice in the back of her mind mind spoke of nothing but doom ahead. And as her heels clicked on hard marble floors, she could only remind herself of what she had to do.

 _"Elizabeth..." Snape said quietly and almost hesitantly, making the girl look towards him. "This... favour, isn't really a favour."_

 _"Then what is it?" the girl said sharply._

 _"It's a mission," Dumbledore said, "for the Order of the Phoenix."_

 _"A mission? For the Order? I thought I was too young to know anything about the Order."_

 _"I feel as if you are more than capable of handling this," Dumbledore said softly._

Elizabeth had been so lost in constructing scenarios for the evening ahead that she barely even realised that the large oak double doors she had to walk through were in sight. She stared at them and her surroundings as she glided through the corridor.

 _"What makes you so sure?" Liz said hesitantly._

 _"Because I know you would do anything for your friends and family," Dumbledore said._

 _"And this'll help who?"_

 _"Your father."_

The room was almost uncomfortably large. It reminded her of a hotel foyer; it was like a perfect magazine cover. Elizabeth would be afraid to sit down on one of the sofas in case she wrinkled the fabric or stained it with something she didn't even know was on her dress. Chairs and sofas were cream but inlaid with a fine emerald silk embroidered so delicately that they might have landed there in spring and just sunk in. The grey curtains were linen, the kind of grey that reminded Elizabeth of Draco's eyes. A cursory look on either side of her revealed moving and whispering portraits of witches and wizards lining the walls, no casual family pictures. The floor was highly polished marble, and free of either dust or clutter. It was a perfect place, but cold in its tranquility.

 _"My father?"_

 _"Yes, Elizabeth. Your father finds himself in a particularly dangerous situation. A situation that I put him in, I am afraid," Dumbledore said._

 _"Of course you did..." Liz sighed angrily, but continued calmly, almost eagerly, "but can I really help my father?"_

 _"Yes. And you can also help young Mr Malfoy in process," Snape said._

 _"Help Draco? How?"_

 _"By constantly being by his side..."_

 _"I don't understand. Aren't I already always with him - during class - on weekends?"_

 _"I require more of you, Elizabeth. I need you to be with him almost every second of the day," the Headmaster said quietly._

 _"But that means..."_

 _"You will have to go to Malfoy Manor."_

The heavy doors were now closer than ever. Elizabeth's own footsteps echoed in her ears like and incessant ticking clock, and so did Draco's, who's footsteps resonated from right beside her. If only he knew, Liz thought as she saw Draco glance down at her calm and collected exterior - he couldn't understand how she was so calm while he was nearly a nervous wreck. Little did he know she was a storm of anxiety and fear on the inside.

 _"Okay... What's the big deal? Draco already asked if I wanted to spend the summer and I agreed; I don't feel like going back to Grimmauld Place for... obvious reasons," Elizabeth said._

 _"You are aware that Professor Snape serves as a triple agent? He gives me information on Voldemort and the Death Eaters, while he feeds them as little truthful information he can without being suspected," Dumbledore said._

 _"Yes, I'm aware."_

 _"What the Headmaster is hinting at, is that the Dark Lord is using Malfoy Manor as his Headquarters," Snape said coolly. Elizabeth's eyes went wide._

 _"What? Does Draco know about this? He dragged me-"_

 _"The only reason that Mr Malfoy brought you into this is because he was asked to," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort has insisted that Lucius convince his son to become one of his followers."_

 _"Oh, God..." Liz suddenly felt sick to her stomach. "You-Know-Who made Draco a Death Eater? Draco's a Death Eater?" Dumbledore nodded._

 _"That is not all, Elizabeth... Voldemort wants someone else to be one of his elite."_

 _"No... No, no, no..."_

 _"He wants you."_

Elizabeth and Draco were standing in front of the door now: the skirt of the dress that Narcissa Malfoy had chosen for the girl was falling simply to her feet; the glittering diamond choker that she had so gracefully clasped around her neck was no longer rubbing against the top of her collarbones; and yet another family ring was placed on one of the fingers anxiously digging into her palms. Draco grasped one of her hands and squeezed it comfortingly as the other reached out and slowly pushed open the doors.

 _"Let me get this straight - you want me to go to Malfoy Manner, 'become' a Death Eater and spy for you?" Elizabeth said, pacing the room. "You want me to risk my life, risk messing up your pretty plan, all so I can James Bond my way into You-Know-Who's ranks? Are you mad?"_

 _"Perhaps a little, or maybe it is the mind of an old man speaking," Dumbledore said, "but the fact remains that the Order needs you to keep a close eye on Mr Malfoy."_

 _"Why can't you do it?" Liz said, agitated, as she looked at Snape. "You're already there, so why can't you keep an eye on him at the Manor?"_

 _"Don't you think it would be odd that a Professor followed his student everywhere he went?" Snape suggested. "It would be far less conspicuous, you will agree, if his girlfriend were to take that position."_

 _"I hate this..." Liz said with a sigh. "I don't want to have to lie to him, Professor. But not only that, You-Know-Who wants to kill me!"_

 _"On the contrary, Elizabeth," Dumbledore said softly. "Voldemort needs you, desires for you to stand by his side. He knows you aren't part of the Prophecy, and he knows just how skilled a witch you are - Voldemort wants you on his side because he knows that, with a bit of direction, you could be one of his most powerful allies."_

The daunting task of pushing the doors open was over, but Elizabeth still had to muster enough bravery - as much as a Slytherin could have - to walk over to the long dark table that she saw ahead. Several people were there including many of the Death Eaters she fought only a few weeks earlier; Antonin Dolohov was giving her a particularly nasty glare and so was Bellatrix Lestrange who didn't seem to approve of the person Draco had just walked in with. Someone at the end of the table rose to his feet.

 _"But what does this have to do with me keeping an eye on Draco?"_

 _"The Dark Lord has tasked Mr Malfoy with a task I am afraid he is not capable of completing," Snape said calmly. "We require you to do take his place should he fail his mission, or at least convince the Dark Lord to ask you to fill in should Draco be incapable of proceeding."_

 _"And what's that? Kill all the Muggle-Borns?"_

You-Know-Who rose from his seat and, with a horrid excuse of a smile, walked over to Elizabeth and sent Draco to sit next to his mother. He looked at the girl's cool and emotionless exterior, circling her as if he were circling his prey; at least that's how Elizabeth felt at the moment. Voldemort stopped in front of her and, with his painfully cold hand, retracted the girl's sleeve on her left arm. He took out his pale wand and pointed it at her forearm.

"Morsmordre," he nearly whispered in the same high, cold and raspy voice that Elizabeth loathed so much. "My dear Elizabeth... Welcome to the family."

 _Dumbledore looked at the girl straight in the eye. For the first time the Headmaster looked intimidating instead of friendly, something the Slytherin witch never wanted to see again._

 _"Should Draco refuse, fail, or be prevented from completing his mission..." Dumbledore said quite seriously. "You, my dear Elizabeth, must kill me."_


	100. Frederick Weasley

Nigh had fallen fast upon Malfoy Manor. No more than an hour ago the sky was painted with hues of red, orange and pink, but all colour had faded leaving only a matte black canvas with no stars to be looked upon. The darkness was thick, but lights gleamed in the diamond-paned windows of the manor. Other than the darkness and the little light cast over the land, all that seemed to exist was the chilly wind that's harsh bite could be felt through anyone's cloak. The pure white peacock that roamed the grounds was hiding in one of the tall hedges and the water from the marble fountain set in an elaborate garden had stopped flowing for the night, its soothing sound absent in the darkness.

If you looked close enough, through one of the windows of the Manor, you could see people gathering in a room. The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table, the usual furniture pushed carelessly aside. Illumination came from a warm fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror and the flicker of candles from a large crystal chandelier, which cast its shadow on the walls. The silence was broken by a quiet hiss. Nagini, Lord Voldemort's pet snake, turned and slithered across the floor of the drawing room and up a throne-like chair. Black-clad men and women - Death Eaters - stood about the figure in the throne-like seat: Voldemort himself. Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape were unmasked and nearest to him; the only other unmasked Death Eater was on his knees before the Dark Lord. Lucius Malfoy appeared to be on trial for his life: his skin had taken on a yellowish and waxy look, his eyes sunken and shadowed - Azkaban had taken its toll.

"One year," Voldemort's high, cold voice said. "One year I spent sending Harry Potter and dear Elizabeth dreams, luring them to enter the Department of Mysteries and retrieve the Prophecy, so that I might know what role he is destined to play..." He paused. "And all I asked of you was to take it from him and bring it to me, and to retrieve the girl. I did not ask for the Prophecy to get destroyed or for the girl to come out of her own free will - no matter convenient that is. You have failed me, Lucius."

"My Lord," Lucius Malfoy said, his voice hoarse, "I have no excuses. I have always tried my utmost for you. I beg to be given another chance to prove myself."

"I can be generous, Lucius," Voldemort said. "I can allow a second chance. But not, I think, to you."

Suddenly, the large oak doors that lead to the drawing room opened swiftly and in walked a group of Death Eaters. Their ranks parted and a white-faced Draco Malfoy was pushed forward, slowly followed by his significant other, Elizabeth Evans. Both stood side by side, eyes discretely scanning the seats filled with anonymous Death Eaters, Bellatrix and Snape. Elizabeth gazed at the pale and snake-like Voldemort, heart hammering. The fear travelled in the girl's veins but it never made it to her facial muscles - her complexion remained pale and matte, her eyes steady as though reading a book. She kept her look of casual indifference as she took a few steps forward, gait casual with no hint of hesitation.

"My Lord," spoke one of the Death Eaters who brought her in, "the girl, she wouldn't-"

"I can very well wear what I like," Liz said simply. "You aren't in charge of my wardrobe, Yaxley."

"My dear Elizabeth," Voldemort said. "As charming as ever, I see." He waved dismissively at Yaxley. "Go on, Yaxley. You are no longer needed."

The man nodded and disappeared into the small lake of black-clad Death Eaters, leaving Elizabeth and Draco alone to stand in front of everyone, and beside a kneeling Lucius Malfoy. Nagini twisted higher on the chair as Voldemort rose from it and slowly began to walk forward until he was standing mere feet away from the two students.

"Stand up, Lucius." The man obeyed. "Stand aside so I can speak with these two," Voldemort said.

"Yes, my Lord," Lucius said and joined the small lake.

"I am sure, Elizabeth, that Draco has spoken to you about what I wish to say."

"He has," the girl said simply, eyes gazing directly at the Dark Lord.

"I have given him a task, a very horrible task, but it must be done," he said in mocking tone. "However much I trust him to excel, I need an assurance that this deed of his will be carried out properly."

"Of course."

"Swear to me, Elizabeth, that should Draco fail you will carry out his mission, as to ensure my domination of, well, everything," Voldemort demanded.

"My Lord," Elizabeth said, trying not to sound sarcastic, "it would be my greatest honour."

"Wonderful!" Voldemort sent everyone a attempt at a smile. "See? Didn't I tell you she was perfect for the task?" Voldemort said, pushing a stray lock of hair away from Liz's face. She tried hard not to move in the slightest, repulsed at his touch. "However, you do realise what I will do to you if you fail me, don't you?"

"I do," Elizabeth said, voice unwavering despite the fear flowing through her veins.

"You will do great things, my dear."

"Thank you, my Lord."

* * *

 **HARRY POTTER AND ELIZABETH EVANS: THE CHOSEN ONES?**

 **Rumours continue to fly about the mysterious recent disturbance at the Ministry of Magic, during which He Who Must Not Be Named was sighted once more.**

 **"We're not allowed to talk about it, don't ask me anything," said one agitated Obliviator, who refused to give his name as he left the Ministry last night.**

 **Nevertheless, highly placed sources within the Ministry have confirmed that the disturbance centered on the fabled Hall of Prophecy.**

 **Though Ministry spokeswizards have hitherto refused to even confirm the existence of such a place, a growing number of the wizarding community believe that the Death Eaters now serving sentences in Azakaban for trespass and attempted theft were attempting to steal a Prophecy. The nature of that Prophecy is unknown, although speculation is rife that it concerns Harry Potter and Elizabeth Evans, the only persons ever known to have survived the Killing Curse, and who are also known to have been at the Ministry on the night in question. Some are going so far as to call them the 'Chosen Ones', believing that they are the only ones who will be to rid us of He Who Must Not Be Named.**

The Daily Prophet and that article were everywhere. Many Death Eaters at the Manor chuckled at the title, believing wholeheartedly that Elizabeth was on their side, and it wasn't unusual for them to use the newspapers as firewood; even Elizabeth herself had started burning some, ashamed of the jet black mark on her left forearm. Much like her scar, the Dark Mark was constantly throbbing with an unpleasant burning sensation and it was impossible to remove. Also, Aslan, who had begrudgingly stayed at Malfoy Manor with her, was constantly hissing at anyone passing by, save herself, Draco and Severus Snape, as per usual. One evening, with a sky so brightly hued and the sun so bright Elizabeth didn't think it belonged there at a time like this, the girl's feline companion ran into the room she was staying, Draco at his heels, while she was practising wand movements for offensive spells.

"You look good in black, you know," Draco said with a smirk.

"Shut up, you prat," Elizabeth said, rolling her eyes but smiling.

"Getting better, are you?" the boy asked with a slight chuckle. "Doubtful, since you're basically a prodigy at everything already."

"Except History of Magic," Liz reminded him. "I can't, for the life of me, remember - or care about, for that matter - the dates and events of every single Giant War there is."

"Speaking of useless information, here's your O.W.L results - I expect no less than five of 'O's on that parchment," Draco said jokingly.

"Oh, shit," Elizabeth said, suddenly nervous. "What do you think I'll get in HoM?"

"Who cares? You don't even need it to replace Professor Snape, and you're sure as hell not taking it in N.E.W.T level."

Elizabeth chuckled and sat down next to Draco on the bed, Aslan rubbing against her ankles as she carefully opened the letter addressed to her in the fourth bedroom at Malfoy Manor. Draco did the same, and neither of them spoke for a while as they looked at their results. Liz jumped back when Alsan pounced onto her lap, earning Draco a playful smack on the shoulder as he laughed at her.

* * *

 **ORDINARY WIZARDING LEVEL RESULTS**

 **Pass Grades: Fail Grades:**

 **Outstanding (O) Poor (P)**

 **Exceeds Expectations (E) Dreadful (D)**

 **Acceptable (A) Troll (T)**

 **ELIZABETH ROSE EVANS HAS ACHIEVED:**

 **Astronomy: O**

 **Care of Magical Creatures: O**

 **Charms: O**

 **Defence Against the Dark Arts: O**

 **Herbology: O**

 **History of Magic: E**

 **Potions: O**

 **Study of Ancient Runes: O**

 **Transfiguration: O**

* * *

"Yes, I passed!" Liz cheered, standing up and accidentally knocking Aslan off the bed. "Oops, sorry, Aslan."

"Told you."

"It's not an 'O', but at least it's not a 'T'."

"Were you seriously expecting a 'T'?" Draco said, dumbfounded yet highly amused.

"Well - no," Elizabeth said, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "I was expecting no more than an 'A'."

"You're an idiot, Ella."

"Thanks. You're a git by the way."

"Of course I am," Draco sighed, flopping backwards.

"What did you get, mister 'I-expect no less than five 'O's on that parchment'?" Liz imitated in a girly voice, snatching Draco's letter from beside his head.

"Got 'O's in everything except Care of Magical Creatures. I blame that giant oaf."

"He's not that bad, you git. Although his teaching skills are kind of... meh," Ella admitted, falling backwards next to Draco.

"'Meh'? Such exquisite vocabulary, my dear," the young Malfoy said sarcastically.

"I do try."

Draco turned on his side to face Elizabeth, grey eyes scanning her features. Elizabeth did the same, green eyes scanning her boyfriend's features. He had changed - matured, of course: his sleek white-blond hair was no longer slicked back and it didn't fall freely on either side of his face either, it was styled properly for once; his icy grey eyes, flecked with blue, however, didn't twinkle anymore - the stress of his mission to kill Dumbledore taking an obvious toll on him; and he looked tired, but not the kind of tired that stemmed from lack of sleep - the kind of tired that stemmed from mental exhaustion. Elizabeth as well had changed - matured: her face seemed thinner but her jaw seemed stronger, which added to the air of arrogance she wore; her once pale jade eyes were now an intense moss green; her obsidian hair was, as always, straight and loose; and her figure was curvier than before, despite her naturally tall and thin frame.

"Can I ask you something?" Draco said, tracing the girl's jaw his finger.

"You just did," came Elizabeth's smart reply.

"Ella, I'm serious."

"What is it?"

"Why did you, of all people, decide to become a Death Eater?"

Elizabeth was expecting that question for a while. Why it hadn't come up in previous conversations she hadn't the faintest idea, but at least he'd asked. Both Dumbledore and Snape were expecting him to ask, so they told her what to say; she was surprised, however, that Voldemort hadn't asked why she joined him, but Liz figured that her Head of House had something to do with that.

"Because there was no way in hell that I was letting you be a Death Eater... alone, that is," Elizabeth said. "I figured, if you're stuck doing it, we're doing it together."

"You know how stupid that is, right?" Draco chuckled, smiling fondly. "You know what He'll do to you if-"

"I know it's stupid. But if Dumbledore got one thing right about me - out of dozens of bad assumptions - is that I'd do anything for friends and family. You're stuck with me, Draco."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, love."

Elizabeth smiled at Draco and scooted closer, cheek pressed firmly against his chest and thin wrapped around his middle. The boy seemed a bit surprised by the sudden affection and chuckled, pressing his lips to the girl's forehead. Just as Liz's hands grasped the back of Draco's shirt, his hands moved around the girl's waist, warm and soft. In seconds their bodies are moulded together, sharing body heat as easily as they share their hearts. Soon, both fell asleep in each other's embrace, Aslan curling up in Draco's back.

The next morning, they woke up in the exact same position, save Aslan who had moved to curl up in the warmth of the back of Draco's neck. During breakfast, which, to nearly everyone's relief, was eaten in the dining room without the presence of Lord Voldemort, Draco and Elizabeth got their letters from Hogwarts listing the supplies and books they'd need for the year. Attached to Elizabeth's letter however, was a surprise: she had been made Quidditch Captain of the Slytherin team. I guess Montague didn't hate me that much after all, she thought. Also attached, to both their letters this time, was a piece of parchment that demanded you write down the classes you wanted to take at N.E.W.T Level.

"Which ones are you taking?" Draco asked absent-minded, scribbling down on his own parchment.

"Obviously Potions and Defence Against the Dark Arts," Elizabeth said, taking a sip of tea, "but I think I'm going to add Herbology, Charms and Transfiguration to the list. I don't really need anything else. Or want anything else. You?"

"Same, but without Herbology - don't want to get dirt on my robes anymore."

"You're such a princess," Liz snorted.

"Hey, it's not my fault if I haven't got the genes for looking good even though I'm covered in Dragon dung," Draco complained.

"Wow, Draco, that was almost a compliment."

"Shut up, you know it was."

Forgetting that Narcissa was seated mere feet away, their inoffensive bickering continued and they shared a few laughs before the boy's mother rose and offered to take the two to Diagon Alley, by side-along apparition, to get their school supplies. The three of them finished their breakfasts, dressed in what Narcissa thought was appropriate attire (except the shoes), and set out to Diagon Alley with a small popping sound.

The Alley had changed, and not in the good way. The colourful, glittering window displays of spellbooks, potion ingredients and cauldrons were lost to view, hidden behind large Ministry of Magic posters that had been pasted over them. Most of these sombre purple posters showed blown-up versions of the security advice on the Ministry pamphlets that had been sent out over the summer, but others bore moving black and white photographs of Death Eaters that Elizabeth had been sharing residence with. Bellatrix Lestrange was sneering from the front of the nearest apothecary - Liz thought she was much less scary than in person. A few windows were boarded up, including those of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour.

"Remember Florean's, Draco?" Elizabeth said, intertwining her fingers with his.

"Yeah, you nearly rammed into me with your weird ice cream," the boy chuckled.

With a small nostalgic smile, the girl turned away and kept moving. Replacing the once colourful shops that were shut down were a number of shabby-looking stalls. The nearest one, which had been erected outside Flourish and Blotts under a striped, stained awning, had a cardboard sign pinned to its front that read, "Amulets: effective against Werewolves, Dementors and Inferi". A seedy-looking wizard was rattling armfuls of silver symbols on chains at passers-by.

"One for your lovely, son?" he told Draco.

"Sod off, would you?" Liz said instantly. "Throwing my shoe at an Inferius would be more effective than your knock-offs."

The man backed off as Elizabeth stormed through and entered Flourish and Blotts. It was rather empty so it made it easier for she and Draco to find their books for the year. With those paid for (not by Narcissa even though she offered), they went over to Madam Malkin's Robes For All Occasions to get themselves fitted for their robes. However it wasn't an easy task considering that Narcissa's stare made the woman tremble incessantly; she kept accidentally pricking Draco with the needle she was using. Not to mention the fact that he and his mother were having a heated discussion.

"For Merlin's sake, mother, we're not children anymore. We can very well do our shopping on our own," he said, irritated.

"Now, dear, your mother's quite right," Madam Malkin said. "None of us is supposed to go wandering around without proper-"

"Mind your own business, will you?" Elizabeth said impatiently, as another woman worked on her own emerald green robes.

"Serious- Hey, watch where you're sticking that pin!"

Ella strode over to the mirror and examined the length and fit of her robes in the mirror. Just then, over her shoulder, she noticed three familiar heads of black, brown and red hair walk into the shop. The girl let out a sigh as the trio gave her disapproving and angry looks.

"Great, it's you," she said simply. Draco turned to look.

"If you're wondering what smells, Mother, Potter just walked in," he sneered.

"I don't think there's any need for attitude like that," Madam Malkin said, scurrying out from behind a clothes rack. "And I don't want wands drawn in my shop, either!" she added hastily, for a glance towards the door showed her that Harry and Ron were both standing there with their wands out and pointed at both Slytherin students.

"Honestly, don't, it's not worth it," Hermione said.

"Yeah, it's not like were in any shape to hex you, Harry," Liz reminded him, gesturing down at her pin-filled robes.

"We would if we could though," Draco chuckled, earning him an eye roll from his girlfriend.

"That's quite enough!" Malkin said sharply, then turned towards Narcissa for support. "Madam - please -"

"Put those away," Narcissa said to Harry and Ron as she came around a rack of clothes. "If you attack my son and Elizabeth, I shall ensure that it is the last thing you ever do." Elizabeth was surprised to get defended by Draco's mother.

"Really?" Harry said, taking a step forward. "Going to get a few of your Death Eater friends to do us in, are you?"

Madam Malkin squealed and clutched at her heart, the other woman simply stopped mid stitch. Elizabeth clenched her jaw and instantly looked over at Hermione who gave her a confused look. There was a moment of silent communication between the two in which Elizabeth hoped to tell her friend that she was and undercover Death Eater for Dumbledore. Suddenly, Hermione's eyes went wide and Liz looked visibly ashamed.

"Really," Malkin gasped, "you shouldn't accuse - dangerous thing to say - wands away, please!"

Harry did not lower his wand. Narcissa Malfoy smiled unpleasantly.

"I see that being Dumbledore's favourite has given you a sense of false security, Harry Potter. But Dumbledore won't always be there to protect you." Liz tensed.

"Wow, look at that," Harry said, mockingly looking around the shop, "he's not here now! So why not have a go? They might be able to find you a double cell in Azkaban with your loser of a husband!"

Draco made an angry move towards Harry, but stumbled over his overlong robe; Elizabeth only just managed to catch his arm in time. Ron laughed loudly.

"Don't you dare talk to my mother like that, Potter!" he snarled.

"It's all right, Draco," Narcissa said as Liz restrained her boyfriend with her thin white fingers upon his shoulder. "I expect Potter will be reunited with dear Sirius before I am reunited with Lucius."

Harry raised his wand higher. Hermione pleaded him not to do anything stupid. Madam Malkin bent towards Draco who was still glaring at Harry and went to adjust the sleeve when she accidentally poked him with another needle. Liz rolled her eyes swore under breath.

"Ouch!" Draco bellowed.

"Come Draco, Elizabeth," Narcissa said, taking the teenagers' robes off and throwing them to Malkin. "We'll do better at Twilift and Tatting's."

And with that, the three of them strode off, heads held high in contempt, save Elizabeth who looked over at her friends and whispered a very sincere apology. Neither of them acknowledged her however, and went over to Madam Malkin who sighed loudly and threw the robes aside. Liz pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation and slowly followed Draco and his mother towards another robes shop where they were fitted in ten minutes with the help of magic. Elizabeth wondered why she never came here instead. Robes purchased, Draco finally convinced his mother to return home. When she did, the boy grasped his girlfriend's hand and dragged her off towards "the best Apothecary in Diagon Alley" where they got their potion ingredients for free since the owner knew Lucius Malfoy personally. Then they stopped off at the crowded Magical Menagerie to purchase cat treats for Aslan then, as they were headed for the Owl Emporium, Liz spotted the unmistakably large head of one of the twins tipping his hat to passers-by.

"Draco, you get your owl nuts, I need to stop off somewhere," Liz said.

"The Weasley's joke shop, eh?" Draco said, a knowing smirk tugging at his lips.

"Uh, yeah, 'cause you know-" the girl was cut off by her boyfriend's lips.

"I know you helped them with this. Go - I'll join you later if they let me in."

With a smile, Elizabeth squeezed Draco's hand for a second just before letting go and setting off towards the twins' shop. Set against the dull, poster-muffled shops around them, Fred and George's window hit the eye like a firework display. Casual passers-by were looking back over their shoulders at the windows, and a few rather stunned-looking people had casually come to a halt, transfixed. The left-hand window was dazzlingly full of an assortment of goods that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced and shrieked; Ellie's eyes began to water happily just looking at the boys' success she helped create. The right-hand window was covered with a giant purple poster, like the ones of the Ministry, but emblazoned with flashing yellow letters that read: "Why Are You Worrying About You-Know-Who? You SHOULD Be Worrying About U-NO-POO: the Constipation Sensation That's GRIPPING the Nation!"

Liz began to laugh and shook her head. She walked forward and entered the shop. It was packed with customers; Elizabeth couldn't even get near the shelves. She stared around, looking up at boxes piled to the ceiling: here were the Skiving Snackboxes that the boys had perfected during their last - and incomplete - year at Hogwarts; Ellie noticed that the Nosebleed Nougat was most popular, with only one battered box left on the shelf. There were bins full of her own creations such as Trick Wands, the cheapest merely turning into rubber chickens or pairs of trousers when waved, and the most expensive beating the unwary user around the head and neck; boxes of Self-Inking, Spell-Checking and Smart-Answer Quills; and boxes of Patented Daydream Charms which, with one simple incantation, will send the user in a top-quality and highly realistic thirty-minute daydream (side effects included vacant expression and possible drooling).

"Wow," the girl smiled. "They really made it."

"All thanks to you, Ellie!" said a voice from behind.

"Freddie!" Liz said happily, squeezing through the crowd to reach the redhead and jumping into his arms. He spun her around for a few seconds, hitting a few people who didn't notice a thing, then set her back down, holding her at arms length. "You guys did it, you really did!"

"Of course we did, we're the Weasley Twins!" Fred cheered. "How've you been?"

"Well, to be honest, I've been better."

"How come?"

"Sorry, Fred, can't say - official Order of the Phoenix Business," the Slytherin said truthfully.

"Order business? Dumbledore's given you a mission?" Fred said, looking both surprised and scared. "He shouldn't have, Ellie! You could-"

"What? Get hurt?" Elizabeth said with a dry laugh. "Definitely."

Fred suddenly grasped her arm and dragged her into an near-empty storage closet and shut the door. A few boxes of Punching Telescopes and fireworks towered in one corner. Fred pulled a chain on the ceiling and a single light bulb turned on.

"What's a light bulb doing in Diagon Alley?"

"Never mind that, Elizabeth," Fred said seriously. "What's this mission?"

"I wish I could tell the world what my mission was, but then it wouldn't be secret anymore, now would it?" Liz unconsciously rubbed her inner left forearm. Fred glanced down. "What?"

"What's wrong with your arm?"

"Nothing, Fred."

"Ellie..."

"There's nothing wrong my damn arm, Fred!" Liz growled. "Now, excuse me, I have to go."

"You're not going anywhere until I'm satisfied you're all right, Elizabeth Evans," Fred said sternly, blocking the girl's passage. "Show me your arm."

"No."

Fred was surprisingly quicker than Elizabeth expected and pushed her back into the storage closet as she tried to leave. He grasped her left hand and, looking straight at her in the eye, pulled up her jacket's sleeve to reveal a jet-black Dark Mark on her fair skin. He didn't look down right away, but kept his bright brown eyes on her green ones which were quickly welling with tears she did not want to shed. His grip loosened on her wrist and he looked down, eyes instantly clamping shut at the sight of the brand. His head fell back and hit the hall as he let out a shaky breath and looked back at the girl.

"You joined them?" Fred said, voice trembling.

"Not because I wanted to," Liz said in her defence.

"Because you didn't want that stupid Draco to be alone in his own mess?"

"No, Fred! Damn... I joined because it's my fucking mission from Dumbledore."

"What?" Elizabeth swore loudly.

"I shouldn't have told you that... Look, I've got to run - Draco's waiting for me somewhere." Fred grabbed her wrist again and twirled here around. He gave her a look that said he wasn't going to let go until she explained. "After the battle in the Department of Mysteries, Dumbledore wanted to speak with me alone. Well, with Professor Snape too, but he kicked Harry out of his office. He said he had a mission for me that could help the Order, Draco and my father at the same time."

"Your dad?" Fred said incredulously. Ellie nodded.

"Obviously, I accepted," she sighed. "The mission is for me to keep an eye on Draco."

"That's it? And you got branded by - by Him for just showing up?"

"No, Fred. I got branded because my job is not only to keep an eye on Draco, but also to make sure that if he can't carry out his mission, I finish it for him."

"Dumbledore asked you to fulfill a deed that You-Know-Who wants Malfoy to do?" Fred questioned. "That doesn't make sense."

"Tell me about it. But that's not all," Liz continued. "You-Know-Who's asked me the same thing; to complete Draco's task should he be incapable. That's why I got branded. I'm - I'm part of his inner circle, now."

Fred swore loudly and ran his fingers through his hair.

"What's the task?"

"That, Fred, I absolutely cannot tell you."

"Why not?" he asked angrily.

"Because you and everybody else you'll probably tell is going to try and stop me, even though Dumbledore himself asked me to do it."

"Come on, Ellie! It's not like he asked you to kill someone," Fred said exasperated. Elizabeth said nothing and looked down at her shoes. "He asked you to kill somebody!"

"Keep your voice down, Frederick!"

"Like hell I will, Elizabeth! Dumbledore's asked you to kill someone, so, forgive me if I'm not well-versed in the art of indifference like you are!"

"I am not indifferent, Fred!" Ellie said in a hoarse whisper. "Do you honestly think that being around Him doesn't affect me? Do you honestly think that lying through my teeth to, oh, I don't know, every-fucking-body, doesn't affect me? Do you think that I am indifferent to using the worst spell there is out there?"

"Apparently you used some pretty nasty spell at the Department of Mysteries - killed a guy, I hear," Fred said crossly, folding his arms over his chest.

"HE KILLED MY BEST FRIEND, FRED!"

Suddenly the door to the storage closet opened and George's head popped out of the door-frame, a goofy smile plastered on his face. Liz immediately pulled down her sleeve and wiped the few tears that had managed to slip past her eyelids.

"Uh, guys?" he said. "Did I hear the word, 'killed' by any chance?"

"No, you didn't." Elizabeth said sharply, then looked at Fred. "Not a word." He glared at her. "Please, Fred... I'm only doing what I was told."

Fred's hard gaze only persisted for another few seconds until he let out a shaky sigh and nodded despite himself. Ellie let out a breath of relief and squeezed Fred's hand for a second before walking out of the closet and out of the shop to where Draco was waiting for her. Seeing her tear-stained cheeks, he asked a few questions, but they went unanswered. There was no way she was going to tell her boyfriend that she had just endangered a lot of people's lives with a slip in her indifferent air.


	101. Horace Slughorn

Fingers intertwined with Elizabeth's, Draco pulled his girlfriend along the near-quiet Diagon Alley. The girl's tear-stained cheeks were no longer a concern as she had demanded her boyfriend stop questioning her emotional state. She knew he cared, but it wasn't the time nor the place to be concerned with that; they had better things to do. Said "better" things included finding ways to kill Dumbledore. Of course, Elizabeth suggested a simple Killing Curse, but Draco had an obvious flair for the dramatic - a simple Killing Curse was, well, too simple. Another task, however, had been appointed by Voldemort; get Death Eaters into Hogwarts, and that was all up to Elizabeth.

Just then, the boy checked over his shoulder and dragged Liz towards his left, down Knockturn Alley. It was dingier and darker than the current state Diagon Alley was and seemed to be reserved for shops devoted to every form of Dark Art possible. Though she didn't like the feel or the way people were looking at her (most likely because of who she was and what she was wearing), Liz was fascinated with everything in the window fronts. Everything ranging from human body parts and bones, to bloodstained instruments and cursed objects could be found and purchased in Knockturn Alley. Draco and she entered one of the last shops in the alley: Borgin and Burkes. Instantly, the smell of dust filled her nostrils as well as whatever smell was coming from the incense burner that sat on the store's counter. The man standing there greeted Draco with a curt nod and momentarily stared at Elizabeth, both surprised and confused as to why she was here.

The girl looked around, leaving her boyfriend's side while he selected a few choice items; after all, it was his mission. A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a once bright red cushion, now dark and faded, a blood-stained pack of cards and a staring glass eye that followed Ella's movements. She spent a few seconds playing it front of it to see if it was fast enough to follow her - it was. Evil-looking masks leered down from the walls, and assortment of human bones lay upon tables and rusty, spiked medieval torture instruments hung from the ceiling. Upon a mantelpiece of a flameless fireplace stood what Elizabeth recognised as a Hand of Glory, an item that brought light only to its holder. Beside that was one of the owners of the store, removing, with gloved hands, a beautiful opal necklace from its glass case. As he strode back towards the counter, Elizabeth read the card that was place underneath it, "Caution: Do Not Touch. Cursed - Has Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date." Elizabeth shuddered; she imagined Hermione being one of those nineteen Muggles.

"Borgin," Draco called, standing in front of a large black cabinet. Elizabeth walked over to him.

"Ah, the Vanishing Cabinet, a very good choice, Mr Malfoy," Borgin replied. Elizabeth immediately though of Fred and George shoving Montague into it. "Would you-"

"No," she said slowly. "No, we already have one, but it's broken. Would you know how to fix it?"

"Possibly," Borgin said, in a tone that suggested he wasn't committing to the idea. "I'll need to see it though. Why don't you bring it into the shop, miss Evans?"

"I can't," Ella said sharply. "It's got to stay put. I just need you to tell me how to do it."

Borgin licked his lips nervously and said, "Well, without seeing it, I must say it will be very difficult, perhaps impossible. I couldn't guarantee anything."

"No?" Malfoy said with a sneer."Perhaps this will make you more confident."

He moved towards Borgin and raised his sleeve, showing the ink-like Mark that was throbbing on hsi arm. Instantly, the man looked over to Elizabeth, terrified, who also took a step forward and reluctantly showed him her own Dark Mark. On the spot, she came up with a threat to keep him quiet about this.

"Tell anyone, and there will be retribution," Ella said. She saw Draco stare at her out of the corner of her eye. "You know Fenrir Greyback? He's a Malfoy family friend, he'll be dropping in from time to time to make sure you're giving my request your full attention."

"There will be no need for-"

"I'll decide that.

"Come on, Ella, we should go," Draco spoke. He pointed to the Vanishing Cabinet in the shop. "And don't forget to keep that one safe."

"Perhaps you'd like to take it now?"

"No, of course I wouldn't, you stupid little man," Elizabeth said irritated. "How would I look carrying that down the street? Just don't sell it."

"Of course not... Miss." Borgin bowed deeply.

"Not a word to anyone, Borgin, and that includes my mother," Draco said, "understand?"

"Naturally, naturally," the shop owner said, bowing again.

The next moment, Draco and Elizabeth were walking out of the shop and down Knockturn Alley again. Quickly, the boy placed the heavily wrapped cursed necklace in his blazer and grasped his girlfriend's hand again. Out of nowhere, he turned Ella's chin towards his face and slammed his lips roughly onto her own.

"What was that for?" the girl said as they pulled away.

"You're beautiful when you're threatening people, you know that?" Draco chuckled.

"Shut up, you twit."

* * *

Elizabeth spent the remainder of the last week of holidays planning the execution of the tasks she had been appointed by both You-Know-Who and Dumbledore, the latter's task being exceedingly more demanding for her, of course. The girl would spend hours on end pacing her room, muttering to herself and staring at her own reflexion in the large ornate mirror or her room, repeating the same words over and over again, hoping that they drill themselves into her brain. You're doing this for the right reasons, Liz, she would say, you're doing this for the greater good. However, it didn't do anything at all to help her self-convincing. Instead, all she did was stare at the scars on her face, mind as blank as a sheet of fresh snow.

The night before Elizabeth and Draco had to get on the Hogwarts Express, the girl packed all her things and let Aslan out of the Manor for the night. When she woke up the next morning, she went to the adjoining bathroom and tried to conceal her Dark Mark with makeup so she could wear a t-shirt without a jacket, but it seemed that Muggle makeup and magic were unable to hide the throbbing jet-black skull and snake on her inner left forearm. So she got dressed accordingly, and slumped downstairs to breakfast. She didn't eat much, something that bothered Narcissa quite a lot, but the woman had to stop nagging her once Elizabeth shot her a glare and walked out of the room. Draco soon joined her and luggage which was being loaded into the trunk of a sleek, black car.

The drive to King's Cross Station was quiet, but not at all awkward. However, once Elizabeth and Draco got onto the Express, the calm had died quite rapidly. Of course, their relationship was public and people were glancing at their intertwined hands wearily, but lots of students - mostly first and second years - had their noses pressed against their compartment doors to get a good look at Elizabeth, one of the 'Chosen Ones'. She had expected an upswing of the amount of gaping and gawping she would have to endure this term, but Liz didn't have to enjoy the sensation on standing under a very bright spotlight.

"I know my girlfriend is beautiful, but quit staring, you tossers!" Malfoy growled, pulling Elizabeth into an empty compartment.

People who were passing by still ogled through the open doors. Elizabeth, rather annoyed, got up to shut them, but was interrupted by a familiar dreamy voice to her left.

"Hello, Elizabeth," Luna said, clutching a pile of Quibblers and bright Spectrespecs in front of her eyes.

"Oh, hey, Luna," Elizabeth replied. "Sorry, but I was going to close the doors and shades - people won't stop staring at me."

"That's all right, I don't like it when people stare at me either." She handed Liz a Quibbler. "Here, you can have one for free."

"Thanks, Luna," Elizabeth said with a small smile.

She was about to close the doors when Luna said, "I'm happy for you two by the way."

"You are?" Luna nodded slowly. "You're the first to say that... Uh, thanks."

"He's nice to you, you make the Wrackspurts around his head go away," the Ravenclaw said dreamily.

"Wrackspurts?" She glared at someone trying to take her picture.

"They're invisible. They float in through your ears and make your brain go fuzzy, but you can make them go away with happy thoughts."

Elizabeth smiled despite the obvious nonsense Luna was speaking and shut the doors and shades as she left. Even though Wrackspurts most likely didn't exist, it was nice that Luna seemed to think that Draco thought happy thoughts around her.

"What're you smiling about?" Draco asked as Liz sat down beside him.

"Luna," she replied simply. "She's beyond mad, but she's always been nice to me."

"What did Lovegood have to say?"

"I make your Wrackspurts go away."

"What?"

"Nevermind, I've got to go to the Prefect's compartment, you coming?" Elizabeth said in standing.

"No, you go," Draco replied. "I've decided to renounce my Prefect privileges because of, well, you know."

Ella nodded and hastily kissed her boyfriend before exiting the compartment and walking towards the Prefect's compartment. The meeting wasn't as long as the previous year since there were no changes save Malfoy, but he was easily replaced by Adrian Pucey, one of the nicest Slytherins Liz had encountered. All eyes, wide in fascination, were immediately on her when she walked into the room, save Hemione's and Ron's who were glaring. With the meeting over, Elizabeth walked back to compartment, threatening to hex people who ogled at her, as usual, and slid the doors open to find that Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson had joined Draco. The two girls glared at each other.

"Parkinson," Liz greeted stiffly.

"Potter," she replied.

"It's Evans, pug-face, get it right."

Draco snickered quietly as his girlfriend pushed past Pansy to sit next to him. Blaise was eyeing her oddly. Elizabeth looked at him sternly.

"Can I help you, Zabini?"

"Maybe. You can defeat You-Know-Who, for starters, oh 'Chosen One'," Blaise said mockingly.

"Don't call me that," Ella sighed, annoyed. "It's absurd. 'The Chosen One'... Surely their trying to inflate my brother's damn hero-complex."

"Oh, and you don't have one?" Pansy scoffed.

"Please, I'm brave and heroic, but I'm not stupid. I know when it's time to save my arse, Parkinson."

"Hey, Evans?" Blaise said, seemingly serious.

"Yeah?"

"I didn't like him, but uh, I'm sorry about Ferran."

"Yeah, so am I," Elizabeth said softly, looking away.

Just then, the compartment door slid open and a breathless third-year stepped inside.

"I'm supposed to deliver these to Blaise Zabini and Elizabeth E-Evans," she faltered, as her eyes met Elizabeth's.

She was holding out two scrolls of parchment tied with violet ribbon. Perplexed, Blaise and Elizabeth seized the scrolls addressed to each of them and the girl stumbled out of the compartment.

"What is it?" Draco asked, as Elizabeth unrolled hers.

"An invitation," she said.

* * *

 _ **Elizabeth,**_

 _ **I would be delighted if you would join me for a**_

 _ **bite of lunch in compartment C.**_

 _ **Sincerely, Professor H.E.F. Slughorn**_

* * *

"Who's Slughorn?" Zabini asked.

"My dad said he was a good wizard in his day," Draco said. "Used to be Potions Master and Head of Slytherin before he retired and Professor Snape replaced him."

"Wait, does that mean we won't have Professor Snape for potions anymore?" Elizabeth asked, slightly worried.

"Don't worry your pretty head, Ella."

"Let's just go find out," Blaised said and rose from his seat.

Elizabeth wished she could have hidden underneath Harry's invisibility cloak as, every now and then, students would hurtle out of their compartments to get a better look at her. The exception was Marietta Edgecombe who darted back into her compartment as soon as she laid eyes on Elizabeth, who smirked at the thick layer of makeup on her forehead that did not entirely obscure the odd formation of pimples still etched across her face. Smirking slightly, Liz pushed on.

"You did that to Edgecombe?" Blaise asked, surprised.

"What if I did?" came the girl's reply.

"Then I would say that it was an amazing bit of magic."

"Are you being nice to me, Zabini?"

"Don't get used to it."

When they reached compartment C, they saw at once that they weren't Slughorn's only invitees, although judging by the enthusiasm of Slughorn's welcome, she (and most likely her brother) was the most warmly anticipated.

"Elizabeth, dear!" Slughorn said, jumping up at the sight of her so that his great velvet-covered belly seemed to fill the remaining space in the compartment. His shiny bald head and great silver mustache gleamed as brightly in the sunlight as the golden buttons on his velvet waistcoat. "It's an honour to meet you, an honour! And you must be Mr Zabini!"

Blaise nodded quietly. At a gesture from Slughorn, the two sat down opposite to each other in the only two empty seat, which were nearest to the door. Elizabeth glanced around at their fellow guests as Slughorn introduced them. Right beside her was her brother, who seemed to be avidly ignoring her; Neville was seated next to Blaise, looking rather scared; looking as though she was not entirely sure how she had got there, was Ginny; Cormac McLaggen, a large, wire-haired youth raised a hand at her as he was introduced; and Marcus Belby, who was thin and nervous-looking, gave Elizabeth a strained smile.

Elizabeth wasn't listening to much of the conversation since it seemed she and the others had been invited for their fame and potential talent in certain fields of study. The girl refused to eat anything that Slughorn gave her, not scared that it was poisoned, but feeling sick to her stomach as she listened to Neville talk about his parents, tortured into insanity by Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman she had been living with and allowing her to teach her darker spells she ever knew existed. Unfortunately, Slughorn had saved the best for last.

"And now," he said, shifting massively in his seat with the air of a man introducing his star act. "Harry Potter and Elizabeth Evans! The 'Chosen Ones', they're calling you now!"

Elizabeth scoffed, "Bit excessive don't you think?"

"Of course not!" he said, watching the siblings closely. "There have been rumours for years, you see! I remember when - well - after that terrible night - Lily, James and you two survived - and the word was that you must have powers beyond the ordinary!"

Zabini gave a little cough that was clearly supposed to indicate amused scepticism. An angry voice burst out from behind Slughorn.

"Yeah, Zabini, because you're so talented... at posing..." Ginny said. A smile tugged at Liz's lips.

"Oh, dear!" Slughorn chuckled comfortably, looking around at Ginny. "You'll want to be careful, Blaise! I saw this young lady perform the most marvellous Bat-Bogey Hex as I was passing her carriage! I wouldn't cross her!"

Zabini merely looked contemptuous.

"Anyway," Slughorn said, turning back to Harry and Elizabeth. "Such rumours this summer. Of course, one doesn't know what to believe, the Prophet has been known to print inaccuracies, make mistakes - but there seems little doubt, given the number of witnesses, that there was quite the disturbance at the Ministry and that you two were there in the thick of it all!"

"Unfortunately," Liz said simply. Harry merely nodded.

"So modest, so modest, no wonder Dumbledore is so fond," the Professor said, making Liz's heart lurch painfully. "So, you were there then? But the rest of the stories - so sensational, of course, one doesn't know quite what to believe - this fabled Prophecy, deaths-"

Slughorn was cut off by Elizabeth standing up quite abruptly and speaking in a tone that suggested anger, but, as usual, her exterior was as calm as ever.

"There is no Prophecy and there is no 'Chosen One' rubbish," she said sharply. "It's just the Prophet making things up as usual. As for the deaths - there were three, and you should know that one of them was my best friend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got better things to do than stay here and have my life used for your entertainment."

"Elizabeth, if I may ask," Slughorn said rather jovially as the Slytherin witch slid the compartment doors open quite violently. "Who was the other person who died?"

"Sirius Black, a great man; and Travers, a Death Eater," Elizabeth said camly. "Died from his injuries."

"Do you know who caused those injuries, dear?"

"I did."


	102. Train Wreck

Elizabeth stormed back to her compartment, completely regretting the decision to have told Slughorn and the other students in compartment C about her injuring someone so badly, they died. She knew that, by the time they'd reached Hogwarts, everyone in the Express would know and she wasn't exactly sure that was a good thing. On one hand they could see her the way they always did; a survivor and now half of the 'Chosen Ones', who, unlike Harry, had accomplished something by killing a Death Eater instead of merely stunning them. But there was always the opposite, where people only say her as white and black; an angry and spiteful student and now a murderer (indirectly of course, but still.)

"Where's Blaise?" Pansy asked as Elizabeth entered her compartment and slumped down next to Draco.

"Still with Slughorn and everyone else who was invited," Liz replied, leaning her head on the blond's shoulder.

"Everyone else?" Draco asked, playing with a strand of Elizabeth's jet-black hair.

"Yeah, stupid man invited a whole bunch of famous or otherwise potentially talented students so he could leech off them and make good connections."

"Who was there?"

"Zabini, obviously; that stupid oaf McLaggen, from Gryffindor; Belby from Ravenclaw; Longbottom - Merlin knows why, he's just pathetic; Ginny Weasley - I can see why she's there; and of course my brother and I," Elizabeth said indifferently.

"I pity Slughorn's taste," Pansy said.

"Yeah, well, no one cares what you think Pansy," Ella sighed.

"How'd everyone get stuck in there and you're here?" Draco said, resting his head on top of his girlfriend's, much to Pansy's discontent.

"I just stormed out after telling Slughorn he could leech off of other people's lives. Oh, and I may have told him what happened to that Death Eater in the Ministry."

"Ella!"

"Sorry, I was pissed," the girl chuckled.

"What Death Eater in the Ministry? The one who supposedly died?" Pansy asked, curious. "I heard he got cursed with something so bad he died."

"That's pretty accurate."

Just then, Zabini entered the compartment. As he was about to shut the door however, it seemed to have gotten stuck when it was nearly closed. He tried to smash the sliding door closed but it didn't work. Instead, the door flung open, Zabini still holding onto it, and he flew to the side nearly landing on top of Pansy. Elizabeth knew something was wrong, so she kept a close eye on everything in the compartment and, as she predicted, an indentation was made in Zabini's currently empty seat and vanished almost just as fast as it had appeared. The girl just knew that Harry, her stupid brother, had entered their compartment under the invisibility cloak and had hidden on top of the luggage rack. It seemed that Draco had seen something as well, as he gave his girlfriend a knowing look then nodded to the spot where she suspected Harry was hiding. Pansy flung Zabini off her, Zabini collapsed back into his seat and Draco, sniggering at a slightly disheveled Blaise, lay down across two seats with his head in Elizabeth's lap. She began stroking Malfoy's sleek blond hair, smirking at Pansy, knowing she'd kill to be in her position.

"Lucky you, storming out of that compartment like you owned the place," Zabini said to Liz. "He kept talking about your brother for the rest of the 'meeting', of course, he also kept complaining that you weren't there to join us."

"I don't think I'll be joining you guys anymore if those 'meetings' persist," Ella said calmly.

"I might go if I get invited," Draco said, obviously wanting the man's recognition.

"I wouldn't bank on an invitation," Blaise said. "While Evans wasn't listening, he asked me about Nott's father. They used to be old friends, apparently, but when he heard he'd been caught at the Ministry he didn't look happy, and Nott didn't get an invitation, did he? I don't think Slughorn's interested in Death Eaters."

Elizabeth looked down at her boyfriend, who seemed angry, but he simply let out a humourless laugh.

"Well, who cares what he's interested in? What is he, when you come down to it? Just some stupid teacher." Malfoy yawned ostentatiously. "I mean, we might not be at Hogwarts next year, so what's it matter to us if some fat old has-been likes us or not? Right, Ella?"

"Pretty much," she replied, ignoring the sick feeling in her stomach at the thought of herself calling Voldemort, 'my Lord', for the rest of her life.

"What do you mean, you might not be at Hogwarts next year?" Pansy said indignantly.

"Well, I don't know about Ella, but I might have moved on to better things," Draco said with the ghost of a smirk.

"Do you mean - Him?"

Malfoy shrugged.

"Mother wants me to complete my education, but personally, I don't see it as that important these days. I mean, think about it... when the Dark Lord takes over, is he going to care how many O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s anyone's got? Of course he isn't... it'll be about the kind of service he received, the level of devotion he was shown."

"And you think you'll be able to do something for him?" Zabini asked scathingly. "Sixteen years old and not even fully qualified yet?"

"He's just said it, hasn't he?" Elizabeth said quietly. "Maybe he doesn't care if Draco's qualified. Maybe the job he would want him to do isn't something that you need to be qualified for."

Draco looked up at Elizabeth with a small smile. He looked nervous and, though he'd never say it, she knew that he was scared. Of course, Draco wanted to please his father, therefore he had to please You-Know-Who, but having his family and his girlfriend threatened in the process was making things much more stressful.

Elizabeth ignored the sharp gasp she heard while opening her trunk on the baggage rack her brother was most likely hiding on, and left for the trains changing rooms with Pansy to get changed. Soon, Hogwarts was in sight and the train slowed to a jerky crawl. The Slytherins fastened their thick travelling cloaks around their necks and made to exit the compartment, but Draco held Elizabeth back for reasons that were seemingly unknown to the rest of them.

"You go on," Draco told Pansy and Blaise, "I need a word with my girlfriend, alone."

"Yeah, sure, 'a word'," Zabini sniggered. "Don't traumatise any first years, you two!"

"Shut up, Zabini," Ella said, a light blush dusting her pale cheeks.

She was sure Harry was gagging underneath the cloak by now, hearing things like this about his sister and his archenemy, but didn't think much of it. Instead, her boyfriend nodded at her and she closed the compartment door as well as the blinds, so that people beyond could not look inside to see what was happening.

Without warning, Draco pointed his wand at the seemingly empty luggage rack and shouted, 'Petrificus Totalus '. As though in slow motion, Harry toppled out of the luggage rack and fell, with a floor-shaking crash, at Elizabeth's feet, the Invisibility Cloak trapped beneath him, his whole body revealed with his legs still curled absurdly into the cramped kneeling position he must have been in. Malfoy smiled, proud of himself.

"I thought so - well - we thought so," he said happily, gesturing between him and Liz who rolled her eyes. "We saw that footprint on the seat and definitely heard that gasp of yours when Ella slammed you with her trunk."

"That was you blocking the door, with your foot, wasn't it?" Liz asked, gazing at the scuff marks on her brother's trainers. She then chuckled and lightly slammed her palm onto he forehead, mockingly. "Why am I even asking, you can't do anything, can you?"

"You didn't hear anything condemning, Potter," Malfoy considered, twirling his wand in his hand. "But while we've got you here..."

Before Elizabeth could stop him, Draco stamped hard on Harry's face and blood, from his most likely broken nose, spurted everywhere. If she had been forewarned though, she most likely wouldn't have stopped Draco anyway - she had to keep her cover as Death Eater and make Harry absolutely sure that she was on the wrong side: Dumbledore's orders.

"That's from my father," the blond said.

Elizabeth then bent over and dragged the Invisibility Cloak out from underneath Harry's immobilised body and threw it over him despite her better judgement.

"I don't reckon they'll find you 'till the train's back in London," she said quietly. "See you around, Harry... or not."

"Come on, Ella, don't want to miss the feast, do we?"

Taking care to tread over Harry's fingers, Draco took Elizabeth's hand and led her out of the compartment and towards the Express' exit. The girl didn't dare look back because she knew that the expression on her face would betray what she'd just done, so she kept on moving and eventually catching up to Blaise and Pansy who seemed to be stuck in a heap of people trying to get off the train.

Eventually, Draco, Elizabeth, Pansy and Blaise made it to the Great Hall with no less than twenty people stopping to stare at Elizabeth, whispering about the 'Chosen Ones' or even the small bit of information she'd told Slughorn. Even the Professors, sitting at the staff table, kept a steady gaze on the girl as she walked in, hand in hand with Draco Malfoy and sat between him and Adrian Pucey, the new Prefect. The First years were sorted rather quickly, then, food appeared on the tables and everyone began to eat, even Elizabeth, to her own surprise, who found that her disgusting thoughts weren't impeding her from eating as much as she normally would. This was slightly alarming to her; did this mean that she was getting used to the terror and spite she was spreading under the orders of two very powerful wizards? She hoped not.

About halfway though pudding, Snape and Harry appeared in the Great Hall, the latter's nose no longer bloody and broken, much to the girl's relief. Surely someone had found him and lent him a hand. She was forced to look away when her brother glared in her direction, and she pretended to think that Blaise's joke was funny and managed a laugh. Moments later, Dumbledore rose, instantly silencing everyone in the Great Hall. Liz noticed something on the man's right hand. It seemed blackened and dead-looking, something Elizabeth knew, because of Bellatrix's teaching, was the result of a very nasty curse. How Dumbledore had come to be touched by such a thing, Liz didn't know.

"To our new students, welcome; to our old students, welcome back!" Dumbledore said. "Another year of magical education awaits you.

"I would like to take the time to remind you that our caretaker, Mr Filch, has demanded a blanket ban on all joke items purchased at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Those wishing to play for their house Quidditch team should give their names to their Heads of House as usual, Captains have already been appointed however." A few Slytherins clapped Elizabeth on the back at this, making her smile a little. "We are also looking for new Quidditch commentators, who should see their Heads of House as well.

"We are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year. Professor Slughorn," Slughorn stood up, his bald head gleaming in the candle light, "is a former colleague of mine who has agreed to resume his old post of Potions master."

"Potions?" Liz gasped. "But Professor Snape?" Then she realised...

"Professor Snape, meanwhile," Dumbledore continued, raising his voice so it drowned out all the muttering, "will be taking over the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Elizabeth didn't think she could muster as big of a smile as she did then. Nearly every single Slytherin was on their feet, clapping, cheering and whistling as their Head of House merely rose his hand in acknowledgement, but Liz was sure she could detect a look of triumph on his features. Snape had finally achieved what he'd been asking for his entire career at Hogwarts, and Elizabeth - as well as the other Slytherins - couldn't have been happier.

"Yes, thank you, Slytherin," Dumbledore dismissed and everything was quiet once more. "Now, as everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers-" Elizabeth's heart gave a painful twang. "-are once more at large and gaining in strength. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe."

Elizabeth scoffed quietly. Safe, she thought, you've got two Death Eaters inside already, Dumbledore, and you know it, too.

"The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I therefore urge you to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose on you, however irksome you might find them - in particular, the rule that you are not allowed out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or outside the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and each other's safety."

Dumbledore's blue eyes swept over the students before he smiled once more.

"But now, your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow," he said happily. "Prefects, your jobs start now."

"First years, over here!" Elizabeth and Pucey called, rising from their seats. "Do you want to lead or do want to rally up the stragglers?"

"Ladies first," he chuckled, heading towards the back.

"All right, then. First years, follow me!"

Elizabeth lead the first years down the corridor, parallel to the line of first year Gryffindors that Hermione was leading. She cast a side glance at her but the Slytherin was looking ahead, head held high and ignoring the line of short students gaping at her with their mouths open wide. The two lines parted ways when Hermione's went up the first set of staircases and Elizabeth's went down towards the Dungeons. She uttered the password and stopped in front of the large fireplace, waiting for Adrian to join her.

"Welcome, Slytherins!" she said, trying to recall what she had planned to say like the previous year. It was a good thing that she and her new partner had practised a smidge in their Prefect meeting. "As you probably know, I'm Elizabeth Evans."

"And I'm Adrian Pucey. We will be your Prefects for our remaining years at Hogwarts," Pucey said.

"Now, there are a few things you should know about Slytherin – and a few you should forget. Firstly, let's dispel a few myths," the girl said, gaze stern yet welcoming. "You might have heard rumours about Slytherin house – that we're all into the Dark Arts, and will only talk to you if your great-grandfather was a famous wizard, and rubbish like that. Well, you don't want to believe everything you hear from the Gryffindors." A few students chuckled.

"We're not denying that we've produced our share of Dark wizards, but so have the other three houses – they just don't like admitting it," Adrian said. "And yes, we have traditionally tended to take students who come from long lines of witches and wizards, but nowadays you'll find plenty of people in Slytherin house who have at least one Muggle parent, including Elizabeth, here."

A few students whispered amongst themselves.

"But that's enough about what we're not," Adrian said, voice growing louder to drown out their muttering. "Let's talk about what we are, which is the coolest House in this school. We play to win, because we care about the honour and traditions of Slytherin."

"We also get respect from our fellow students. Yes, some of that respect might be tinged with fear, because of our Dark reputation, but you know what? It can be fun, having a reputation for walking on the wild side. Chuck out a few hints that you've got access to a whole library of curses, and see whether anyone feels like nicking your pencil case," Elizabeth said earning her a few smirks from a small group of boys in the back.

"But we're not bad people, well, not all of us are," Pucey chuckled. "We're like our emblem, the snake: sleek, powerful, and frequently misunderstood."

"Time for some trash talking, I think," Elizabeth said in her partner's direction just as the rest of the Slytherin students walked into the common room. Some, including Draco Malfoy, even stopped to listen to what they were saying.

"We Slytherins look after our own – which is more than you can say for Ravenclaw. Apart from being the biggest bunch of swots you ever met, Ravenclaws are famous for clambering over each other to get good marks, whereas we Slytherins are brothers," Adrian said.

"And sisters!" a blonde girl called from the back.

"And sisters, yes."

"And speaking of being swots, we haven't mentioned the biggest bunch of tossers there are: the Gryffindors," Elizabeth said. Most students in the room let out a few laughs and cheers. Liz saw Draco chuckle and roll his eyes. "Now, a lot of people say that Slytherins and Gryffindors represent two sides of the same coin. Personally, I think Gryffindors are nothing more than wannabe Slytherins. They like beating us only slightly less than we like beating them."

"A few more things you might need to know: our house ghost is the Bloody Baron. If you get on the right side of him he'll sometimes agree to frighten people for you," Pucey said. "Just don't ask him how he got bloodstained; he doesn't like it. If you really want to know, Elizabeth over here tells a mean ghost story."

"The password to the Common Room changes every fortnight. Keep an eye on the notice board for the new passwords, as well as activities and various notices that might concern you," Elizabeth said, then continued with a lie. "Also, never bring anyone from another house into our common room or tell them our password. No outsider has entered it for more than seven centuries."

"Well, I think that's all for now," Adrian said, looking over at his partner who nodded. "I'm sure you'll like our dormitories which are filled with our house colours, silver and green, many of them have windows that look out into the depths of the Black Lake."

"Your timetables will be given to you tomorrow at breakfast," Liz said. "Any questions?"

There was no answer. A few students looked at each other, expecting someone to raise their hand or speak up, but no one did.

"All right then. Once again, welcome to Slytherin and have a good night!" 1

* * *

1: The majority of Elizabeth and Adrian's speech was taken from J.K. Rowling's Pottermore. I do not own this, and do not have any creative authority over it.


	103. Felix Felicis

If there was one great thing about being a N.E.W.T level student, it was the fact that you only took the classes you wanted; every other period was considered free time to study or, in most people's case, to relax and have fun. Elizabeth, much to her content, shared every class with Draco, save Herbology on Tuesday mornings, which he wasn't taking. Monday mornings were devoted to Defense Against the Dark Arts with Snape, a great way, she thought, to start a week. The same day, but in the afternoon, she had two hours of Potions with Professor Slughorn. She didn't like him as a person, so far, but she was hoping he was at least a decent teacher. Wednesday afternoons were going to be spent with Professor Flitwick in Charms, and Friday mornings, Draco and Elizabeth would be in Transfiguration with McGonagall as usual. Thursdays, this year and the next, were completely void of any in-class work.

"This is great!" Draco said, looking over his timetable at breakfast. "We've got Thursday off completely and a whole bunch of free time during the rest of the week."

"Which will be used for studying and our... extracurricular activities, Draco," Liz sighed, reminding him about the tasks that You-Know-Who had set for them. She then tapped the two badges on her chest. "Plus, I've been appointed Quidditch Captain, so I've got to rally the troops; and don't forget that I'm also a Prefect! Speaking of which - hey!" she called to a first year Hufflepuff near the door to the Great Hall. "I've already told you: Fanged Frisbees are are banned, Jameson, so hand it over." The scowling boy strode over and handed her the Frisbee before running off. Liz tapped it with her wand, sealing its mouth shut, and stuffed it her bag to give to Filch later. "So, our free time might be free for you, but I've got shit to do, love."

"Language, Miss Evans," a smooth drawl said from behind.

"Sorry, sir," Liz apologised, turning to see Snape.

"Twenty hopefuls have already put down their names for the Slytherin Quidditch team," he continued. "I shall pass the list onto you in due course and you can fix up trials at your leisure."

"Of course, thank you, sir." Snape nodded and left. Elizabeth let out what sounded like a mixture of a sigh and a groan. "See what I mean?"

"Oh, calm down would you?" Draco chuckled, trapping her in a side hug. "We've got a free period before our Defence class, so how about you calm down and start worrying then?"

"Yes, Mum."

An hour later, Elizabeth had confiscated five more items and given them all to Filch who waddled away happily, and had also taken away a total of twenty points from four students. She and Draco had gone down to the Dungeons to get their copies of Confronting the Faceless and The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 6, then walked back up to the usual Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. She was annoyed to see Hermione, Ron and Harry there, badmouthing Professor Snape once again.

"You just wait, Ron," she heard Hermione say. "I bet Snape gives us loads of homework."

"It's Professor Snape, to you, Hermione," Liz said contemptuously. "Besides, what's wrong with a little homework? Afraid you won't be able to keep up?"

"Liz, what has gotten into you?" Hermione gasped, surprised at her friend's tone and choice of words.

"Maybe I'm just finally showing who I really am, the person who everyone seems to think I am." She sent a pointed glare at her brother. "And what's it to you anyway?"

"You're my-"

"If you say 'friend' or 'sister' I'll have to hex you."

A scandalised look crossed Hermione's face just as the door to the classroom opened to reveal Professor Snape, curtains of black hair framing his face. Silence fell over the queue of students immediately.

"Inside," he said simply.

Elizabeth looked around as she entered and smiled. Snape had imposed his personality upon the room already and she, as well as her boyfriend, thought it did the subject justice; it was gloomier than usual as thick curtains had been drawn over the windows, and was lit by candlelight. New pictures adorned the walls, many of them showing people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly injuries or strangely contorted body parts. Nobody spoke as they settled down, looking around at the shadowy, gruesome pictures. Draco and Elizabeth sat in the front.

"I have not asked you to take out your books," Snape said, closing the door and moving to face the class from behind his desk; Hermione hastily dropped her copy of Confronting the Faceless back into her bag with a loud thump. "I wish to speak to you and I want your fullest attention."

His black eyes roved over the students' faces, lingering for a fraction of a second longer on Elizabeth's than anyone else's.

"You have had five teachers in this subject so far, I believe," Professor Snape began in his usual calm voice, barely above a whisper yet managing to capture everyone's attention. "Naturally, these teachers will all have their own methods and priorities. Given this confusion, I am surprised so many of you scraped an O.W.L. in this subject. I shall be even more surprised if all you of you manage to keep up with the N.E.W.T coursework, which will be much more advanced."

Snape set off around the edge of the room, now speaking in an even lower voice. The class craned their necks to keep him in view.

"The Dark Arts," he said, "are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than before. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, indestructible."

Liz was at the edge of her seat; this reminded her of her first year of Potions and and how fascinated she was. It was surely one thing to respect the Dark Arts as a dangerous enemy, but what really caught the girl's attention, was the way Snape spoke about the Arts, almost poetically.

"Your defences," he said, a little louder, "must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the Arts you seek to undo. These pictures, "Snape indicated a few of them as he swept by, "give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer, for instance, the Cruciatus Curse-" He waved a hand towards a witch who was clearly shrieking in agony, and Elizabeth recalled the events of last year. "-feel the Dementor's Kiss-" A wizard lying huddled and blank-eyed slumped against a wall. "-or provoke the aggression of the Inferi-" a bloody mass upon the ground.

"Has an Inferius been seen, then?" Parvati Patil said in a high-pitched voice. "Is it definite, is he using them?"

"The Dark Lord has used Inferi in the past," Snape said, "which means you would be well-advised to assume he might use them again. Now..."

He set off again around the other side of the classroom towards his desk, and again, the class watched him as he walked, fascinated, his dark robes billowing behind him.

"... you are, I believe, complete novices in the use of non-verbal spells, save a select few." He glanced over at Elizabeth and Draco. "What is the advantage of a non-verbal spell?"

Both Hermione and Elizabeth's hands shot up in the air. Snape didn't even bother glancing in Hermione's direction.

"Miss Evans?"

"Non-verbal spells have the advantage of preventing your opponent from knowing what kind of magic you're about to perform, sir. But not all wizards can do it, of course; it depends on the concentration and mind power which some," Elizabeth cast a glance towards Harry, Ron and Hermione, "lack."

Quite a few Slytherins sniggered.

"Quite right," Snape said with a shadow of a smirk. "You will now divide into pairs. One partner will attempt to jinx the other without speaking. The other will attempt to repel the jinx in equal silence. Carry on."

Although Professor Snape most likely was unaware, Harry and Elizabeth had taught at least half the class (those who had members of the DA) how to perform a proper Shield Charm. No one had ever tried it non-verbally however. A reasonable amount of chattering ensued; many people where merely whispering the incantation instead of saying it aloud. On one side of the classroom, however, and regrettably, thanks to Bellatrix Lestrange, Elizabeth and Draco were successfully jinxing and deflecting repeatedly. Snape swept between everyone of them as they practised, even corrected Liz's form once, but spent most of his time lingering to watch Harry and Ron struggle.

Ron, who was supposed to be jinxing Harry, was purple in the face, his lips tightly compressed to save himself from the temptation of muttering the incantation. Harry had his wand raised, waiting on tenterhooks to repel a jinx that seemed unlikely to ever come.

"Pathetic, Weasley," Snape said after a while, then glanced at Elizabeth. "Here, let's show you-"

An almost indistinct nod told the Slytherin witch to turn abruptly and sent a non-verbal Impediment Jinx towards her brother in a powerful jet of turquoise light. Harry, reacting on instinct, yelled, 'Protego'. His Shield Charm was so strong that she would have stumbled backwards, had Elizabeth not been prepared for recoil, like a few students in her immediate vicinity, but, again, thanks to Bellatrix's teachings, she was quicker and managed a non-verbal Shield Charm to block it. Most students had turned to watch, both scared and impressed at Elizabeth's talent, as Snape scowled at Harry.

"Do you remember me telling you we are practising non-verbal spells, Potter?"

"Yes," Harry said stiffly, glaring at a smirking Elizabeth.

"Yes, sir."

"There's no need to call me 'sir', Professor."

Several people gasped, including Hermione. Most Slytherins, including Elizabeth, were ready to jinx Harry where he stood. Others, like Ron, Seamus and Dean Thomas grinned appreciatively.

"Detention, Saturday night, my office," Snape said. "I do not take cheek from anyone, Potter... not even one of the Chosen Ones. As for the other-" Snape turned to Elizabeth. "-twenty points are awarded. Now, carry on!"

"That was brilliant," Draco exclaimed, right arm swung lazily over his girlfriend's shoulder, once seated at their table for lunch.

"You can thank your Aunt for that," the girl whispered reluctantly. "She's the one who's been drilling us all summer."

"True, very true. Hey, so, do you think DADA classes with Professor Snape will make up for his loss in Potions?"

"My favourite subject is Potions, but yeah, I think I'll be able to get over it," Liz chuckled, eating a forkful of mashed potatoes. "I mean, did you hear the way he was talking about the Dark Arts? It's clear that he loves them! All that stuff about them being many, varied, ever-changing and eternal - it was poetry!"

"Okay, calm down, Ella. People are going to start to think you want to date him instead of me," the blond laughed.

"What? Gross. He could be my dad, for Merlin's sake."

"You know," Blaise said, sitting opposite to Liz, "I think he sounded a bit like you, Evans."

"What are you prattling on about, Zabini?" Elizabeth sighed, stuffing some roast beef into her mouth.

"The way you're always going on about facing You-Know-Who, you know? In your stupid interview with that Skeeter woman you said it wasn't just about memorising a bunch of spells - you said it was about using your brain and your guts."

"Your point?"

"Well, wasn't that what Snape was saying?" Blaise insisted. "That it really comes down to being brave and quick-thinking?"

"Huh... You're not as stupid as you look, Zabini."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Before Elizabeth could reply however, Draco and a few other burst out laughing. Even Blaise, despite himself, managed a chuckle. After lunch, they had to head down to the Potions classroom Professor Snape once called home. As they were heading down the steps, though, Miles Bletchley, a Slytherin in Liz's year, ran up to the group, panting and clutching a roll of parchment.

"Evans! Hey, Evans!" he handed her the parchment. "From Professor Snape; it's the list of candidates for the team this year."

"Right, thanks, Miles," Elizabeth said dismissively.

"Hey, you're the new Captain, right? When are you holding trials?"

"I was thinking this weekend. Don't worry though, I'll post a notice on the board."

"Awesome. Hey, tell me what Slughorn is like, yeah?" Bletchley said, as he began to walk away.

"Will do."

When the three arrived in the Potions corridor, Elizabeth noticed that they were only eleven people progressing to N.E.W.T level potions. Crabbe and Goyle had evidently failed and so did Parkinson, much to Elizabeth's content. Unfortunately, again, Hermione, Ron and Harry were there, obviously only because Slughorn took students who managed to scrape 'Exceeds Expectations', unlike Snape who only accepted 'Outstanding' students in his classroom. There were also four Ravenclaws, and that Hufflepuff, Ernie MacMillan, that Elizabeth liked despite his pompous manner.

"Elizabeth," he said excitedly, holding out his hand to shake as she approached, "didn't get a chance to speak in DADA this morning. Good lesson, I thought, but Shield Charms are old hat, of course, for us - you know," he said quietly, obviously not wanting to mention the DA in front of Malfoy and Zabini. "Oh, and brilliant jinx on your brother, by the way - how'd you do it?"

But before Elizabeth could even say a word, the dungeon door opened and Slughorn's stomach preceded him out of the door. As they filed into the room, his great walrus moustache curved above his beaming mouth as he greeted Harry, Elizabeth and Zabini with particular enthusiasm. It seemed, to the girl, that the fact that she was the reason for someone's death didn't phase him one bit - how disappointing, she thought.

The dungeon was, most unusually, already full of vapors and smells. Elizabeth sniffed interestedly as she passed by, trying to identify said concoctions by smell. Slughorn seemed to notice. The three Slytherins took a table together, as did the four Ravenclaws. This left Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ernie - who chose not to sit with Draco Malfoy - to take a table together. Elizabeth chose the nearest table to the front, where a gold-coloured cauldron was emitting one of the most seductive scents Elizabeth had ever inhaled. It had a pearly sheen and the vapours rose in spirals. Instantly, she knew it was Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in existence - she didn't dare inhale it.

"Now then, now then, now then," Slughorn said, whose massive outline was quivering through the many shimmering vapours. "Scales out, everyone, and potion kits, and don't forget your copies of Advanced Potion-Making."

Liz took out her tattered, two year old copy of the required textbook, having received it as a Christmas gift from Hermione. The Gryffindor noticed, in fact, that Elizabeth still had it; Hermione knew it was the one she had given Liz because the inscription: You'll always be my sister, was written in neat cursive on the inside of the cover. Slughorn also noticed, as Liz turned and marked the pages of the three potions of each table in her book, that almost every single one of those pages was littered with scribbles and side notes, indicating all the improvements she had made over two years while practising at Remus' cottage and at Grimmauld Place last summer.

Elizabeth watched as Slughorn fetched two textbooks from a cupboard, handing one to Ron and Harry, who didn't purchase anything for the class because they hadn't expected being able to move on to N.E.W.T level potions. While, the two boys also fetched potion kits and scales, Slughorn walked over to Elizabeth.

"May I?" he asked, indicating Liz's textbook.

"Sure," she said indifferently.

The man's eyes twinkled as he scanned nearly every page, then placed the book down and muttered, "Truly amazing."

"Uh, thanks?"

Slughorn kept muttering to himself at the front of the class until Harry and Ron both had all their equipment. He turned to address the classroom.

"Now then," he said, "I've prepared a few potions for you to have a look at, just out of interest you know. These are the kind of thing you ought to be able to make after completing your N.E.W.T.s. You ought to have heard of them, even if you haven't made them yet. Can anyone tell me what this one is?"

He indicated the cauldron closest to Hermione, Ron, Harry and Ernie. Elizabeth didn't even bother looking and raised her hand up straight away. Slughorn pointed at her, much to Hermione's dismay.

"It's Veritaserum, sir," Liz said, "a colourless, odourless potion that forces the drinker to tell the truth."

"Very good, very good," the man said happily. "Now," he continued, pointing to the cauldron nearest to the Ravenclaws, "this one here is pretty well-known... featured in a few- yes, Elizabeth?"

"It's Polyjuice Potion, sir."

"Of course, and, while you are at it, can you tell me what the one in front of you is?"

"It's Amortentia."

"Indeed it is. It seems almost foolish to ask," Slughorn said, looking mightily impressed, "but I assume you know what it does?"

"It's the most powerful love potion in the world."

"Quite right! You recognised it, I suppose, by its distinctive mother-of-pearl sheen?"

"And the steam rising in characteristic spirals," Elizabeth said enthusiastically, "and it's supposed to smell different to each of us, according to what attracts us."

"And may I ask, my dear, what it is you smell?" Slughorn asked.

"I smell..." The girl breathed in deeply. "Aftershave... Spearmint toothpaste and... green apples."

There was a collective giggle from a few Ravenclaw girls as Draco nudged his girlfriend and winked, making her blush more than she'd have liked to. Even Blaise seemed to be enjoying her embarrassment. As for Hermione, Ron and Harry, they pretended to gag right then and there.

"All right, settle down, settle down," Slughorn said with a chuckle. "Now, we get to work."

"Sir, you haven't told us what's it that one," Ernie said, pointing to a small black cauldron on the professor's desk. The potion was within was splashing about merrily; it was the colour of molten gold, and large drops were leaping like goldfish above the surface, though not a particle has spilled.

"Oho," Slughorn exclaimed. "Yes, well, that one, ladies and gentleman, is a most curious little potion called Felix Felicis. I take it," he turned, smiling, to look at Elizabeth who had let out an audible gasp, "that you know what Felix Felicis does, Miss Evans?"

"It's liquid luck," Elizabeth said excitedly, much unlike her demeanor had been these past few months. "It makes you lucky!"

The whole class seemed to have sat up a little straighter. Even Draco, who had been dreamily staring at Elizabeth, not paying much attention to Slughorn, was now sitting up straight and giving the man his full and undivided attention.

"Quite right, why don't you take twenty points for Slytherin. Yes, it's a funny little potion, Felix Felicis," Slughorn said. "Desperately tricky to make, and disastrous to get wrong. However, if brewed correctly, as this has been, you will find that all your endeavours tend to succeed... at least until the effects wear off."

"Why don't people drink it all the time, sir?" Terry Boot said.

"Because it taken in excess, it causes giddiness, recklessness and dangerous overconfidence. Too much of a good thing, you know... But taken sparingly and occasionally - not a problem. And that," the professor said, "is what I shall be offering as a prize in this lesson."

Elizabeth perked up immediately and began thinking of what she could do with the Felix Felicis when she won it - because she would. She was easily the best potion-maker in the room, save Slughorn most likely, and everybody knew that, as they all glanced wearily in her direction.

"So, how are you to win my fabulous prize? Well, by turning to page ten of your books, of course." Elizabeth turned to page ten and scoffed - she could this in her sleep. "We have a little over an hour left, which should be time for you to make a decent attempt at the Draught of Living Death. Well then, off you go!"

Unlike everyone else in the room who began frantically grabbing ingredients and rifling through their textbooks, Elizabeth calmly walked over to the store cupboard and took the necessary ingredients, glaring at a Ravenclaw who tried to push past her.

Back at her station, Elizabeth evenly and swiftly chopped her Valerian root, gently dropping half of it into her cauldron. She then added her infusion of Wormwood and the powdered root of Ashphodel to the mix and her potion immediately turned jet-black, as it was supposed to. Zabini glanced nervously at her potion. Elizabeth then took thirteen Sopophorous Beans rather than twelve, and, instead of cutting them like the book said, followed her own modifications and crushed the beans with the flat side of her silver knife first; it released the juices better than cutting. She scooped it all into her cauldron and the potion turned lilac, just like it had every single time she'd attempted it. Then, every seventh anti-clockwise stir, she stirred once clockwise, until the contents of the cauldron turned light pink.

"How are you doing that?" Zabini asked, his potion still deep purple.

"Add a clockwise stir," Liz said airily.

"No, no, the book says anti-clockwise."

Liz shrugged and kept stirring: seven times anti-clockwise and once clockwise until her potion was as clear as water. Just then, Slughorn called time and everyone dropped their instruments. The Professor moved slowly between tables, occasionally stirring or sniffing a potion. Behind Elizabeth, Slughorn gave an approving smile to Hermione's Draught which remained a decent shade of purple, gave a rueful smile to Ron's tar-like substance, and kept gazing between Harry's and Elizabeth's potions.

"Well, I daresay we have a tie!" Slughorn cheered.

"What! " Liz said loudly, then looked into her brother's cauldron: it was exactly like hers.

"Good Lord, it's clear you two have inherited your mother's gift, she was a dab at potions, Lily was!" Slughorn went to the front and filled two small vials with golden luck. "Here you are, then, here you are - one bottle of Felix Felicis each, as promised, and use it well!"

Elizabeth took the bottle and slid it into a small pocket in her book bag all the while she was staring at her brother. How could he have possibly made a perfect Draught of Living Death on his first try, after being rubbish at Potions for his first five years at Hogwarts? Something wasn't right, Liz knew it. She glanced at her brother's textbook and saw that inside, much like her own, someone had scribbled notes and crossed out steps, replacing them with his or her own. Harry saw that Elizabeth was spying into his book and shut it immediately then walked out of the classroom with a disappointed Hermione and a dumbfounded Ron. Elizabeth was going to find out who wrote in that book, and maybe, she had just gotten the thing to help her succeed in her endeavour.


	104. Disturbing Discoveries

For the rest of the week's Potions classes, Slughorn kept raving about Harry and Elizabeth's abilities to his other groups, saying that he had rarely taught anyone so talented. It seemed, as well, that Elizabeth's "attack" on her brother in their Defence Against the Dark Arts class was another thing that people seemed to whispering about lately. These two "incidents" also increased the number of stares that the siblings received in the halls, but Liz wasn't bothered much anymore. She was so absorbed in all her work that she barely had time to breathe, think or notice.

As promised, Elizabeth had posted a notice about Slytherin Quidditch team trials that were going to be held this Saturday after their lunch period. So far, added to the list of twenty people, were three more hopefuls that had come directly to her while she was eating breakfast on Thursday morning. She sent them away quickly, reminding them once again about the notice on the board in the Common Room and that it was pointless to come directly to her because they could come to the trials on Saturday.

Her free time was spent almost entirely at the library so far this week, researching the restricted section of the library (without written permission because she was a N.E.W.T student) for ways to repair the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement - the one that Fred and George accidentally broke by sticking Graham Montague inside. She had realised, over the summer, that maybe the Vanishing Cabinet in Borgin and Burke's was, or could be, linked to the one at Hogwarts, potentially allowing Death Eaters safe passage into the castle. Even Draco, who was rarely seen in the library, was nearly always by his girlfriend's side, searching for non-obvious ways of killing Albus Dumbledore. Elizabeth kept telling him that she was going to use the Killing Curse if he didn't get a move on, Voldemort's threat on his family very real indeed.

Liz had been in the restricted section before, without permission however, so she never had the chance of looking through the books that were held in there. Of course, she knew that they contained the darkest of magic; magic that was never to be taught at Hogwarts. There were books from the Middle Ages such as Magick Moste Evile that described the wickedest of magic, often used for torture (as Elizabeth could see from the gruesome images), and had lists of dark spells written down by the author who claimed to have invented them with a rare wand made of Elder. Elizabeth also had the unfortunate honour of perusing Secrets of the Darkest Art 1, a book that demonstrated magic that no one, not even the Dark Lord himself, could ever dream up. However, she did recognise something that Bellatrix had mentioned in passage: Horcruxes. Eyes wide, Liz read on:

 _Originally created by Herpo the Foul (710 B.-C. - ?), a Horcrux is a receptacle prepared by dark magic - the best kind, of course - to receive a fragmented piece of soul, detached from the Master Soul to act as an anchor to life and as a future safeguard against death. The Horcrux, either an inanimate object or a living thing (which would be most gruesome), in which the fragment of soul is contained, allows the manufacturer to live beyond his years, as his body will remain unharmed so long as the Horcrux remains intact._

Elizabeth momentarily looked up from her book and acknowledged Draco's presence before returning to her reading.

 _The creation of a Horcrux is achievable by two simple tasks: the use of a spell (see page 519, under Deadliest of Fun) and the taking of one's life by means of Avada Kedavra, known now as the Killing Curse (and also my preferred spell). One murder must be committed for each Horcrux created, but it is inadvisable to create more than one._

 _Their destruction, if necessary (although it is also inadvisable to destroy them), is difficult yet not impossible. For the soul fragment to be released and removed from the Earth, the object in which it is contained must be destroyed beyond physical and magical repair - it must be killed. There are very few substances that can destroy a Horcrux, however Herpo the Foul, also a breeder of Basilisks (wonderful, large serpents whose gaze is most deadly), ensured that his creation could be destroyed by the creature's venom as well as Fiendfyre, which ravages everything in its path; Avada Kedavra can only be used on living subjects (possible destruction side effects include the bleeding black blood and intense screeching)._

Elizabeth suddenly slammed the book shut just as she realised something, recalling what Harry had told her happened in the Chamber of Secrets and the diary that bled and ink-like substance. She rose from her seat, ignoring her boyfriend's calls and checked out the macabre book before dashing down the corridors. She told a student off for attempting to use Nosebleed Nougat before their History of Magic class, and ran up to the third floor where she found the stone Gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's Tower's entrance. It dawned on her that she didn't have the password, but she recalled Dumbledore having a soft spot for sweets.

"Sherbert Lemon... Cockroach Clusters... Pixie Puffs... Acid Pops..."

Suddenly, the Gargoyle sprang to life and began to rise and spin to reveal a spiraling stone staircase. Regaining her composure, Elizabeth slowly climbed the stairs to the Headmaster's office, the jet-black book held firmly in her arms. At the door, she knocked, and entered when there was no answer. The many portraits hanging on the walls instantly looked at her and nodded respectfully. Elizabeth looked around and noticed, unsurprisingly, that all the objects she had broken before the end of term were repaired and back on their spindly tables, whirring and emitting small puffs of smoke once again. The girl walked forward and set the dark book upon the Headmaster's Desk. A few people in the portraits began to whisper.

"Where did you get that?" the previous Headmaster, Armando Dippet asked, his painted eyes widening at the sight of the book.

"In the restricted section, Headmaster Dippet," she replied curtly, curious as to why everyone was surprised it was in her possession.

More whispers ensued until Albus Dumbledore cam down the metallic spiral staircase at the back of the office, his purple robes gleaming in the candlelight. Immediately, his eyes fell upon the pitch black book on his desk. His twinkling blue eyes then fell upon Elizabeth's green ones, staring coolly back at him.

"Elizabeth," he said calmly, "what are you doing inside on a day like this?"

"Research, sir. I do, after all, have multiple tasks I need to complete," she replied dryly.

"Of course, of course... I presume you are looking for ways to repair a twin to something in Borgin and Burke's?"

"How-?"

"Harry, of course, followed you and Draco Malfoy in Knockturn Alley this summer."

"Of course he did," Liz sighed and took a seat. "He also snuck into our train compartment a few days ago and, well, everyone saw what Draco did to his face. Who found him, anyway?"

"Nymphadora Tonks," Dumbledore said simply. "She's been stationed at Hogsmeade to provide extra protection."

There was a moment of silence in which Elizabeth began thinking of other members of the Order, but mainly Remus. She was highly concerned with his safety, although her own predicament was, most likely, far worse. He, at least, wasn't in direct contact with You-Know-Who himself.

"You came here for other reasons than the reparation of certain dark artefacts, did you not?" the Headmaster asked, sitting at his desk.

"What can you tell me about Horcruxes?" Liz said simply, staring into Dumbledore's pale blue eyes, trying to detect a flicker of fear or worry. Several portraits gasped.

"That, Elizabeth, is a long and painful story, which-" Dumbledore rose and went over to the cabinet where she knew the Pensieve was kept. "-I shall share with you. From now on, we shall be leaving the firm foundation of fact and journeying together through the murky marshes of memory into thickets of wildest guesswork. From hereon in, Elizabeth, I may be as woefully wrong as Humphrey Belcher, who believed the time was ripe for a cheese cauldron."

"But you think you're right, of course?" Liz said, unconsciously rubbing the inside of her left arm.

"Naturally I do,"Dumbledore said, glancing at her movements, "but as I have already proven to you, I make mistakes like the next man. In fact, being - forgive me - rather cleverer than most men, my mistakes tend to be correspondingly larger."

"Sir, does this have anything to do with my mission? The Horcruxes? Saving my brother's life?"

"It has a very great deal to do with Horcruxes. And I certainly hope that it will aid you in your mission as well as help your brother survive."

Elizabeth nodded and Dumbledore bent over the dark cabinet. When Dumbledore straightened up, he was carrying a familiar shallow stone basin etched with odd markings. He placed the Pensieve on the desk in front of Elizabeth.

"I would say look worried, but then I would be lying," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "Your Occlumency lessons were even more successful than I'd imagined."

Elizabeth was indeed eyeing the Pensieve indifferently, but as Dumbledore suspected, she was slightly worried. The last time Elizabeth had disturbed its contents, she had seen much more than she should have.

"This time, you enter the Pensieve with me and, even more unusually, with permission." Dumbledore said. It seemed he expected to have Elizabeth ask where they were going, but she didn't; she wasn't Harry. "We are going for a trip down Bob Ogden's memory lane," he continued, pulling out a vial containing a swirling silvery substance. "Before he passed, I tracked him down prior to his demise and persuaded him to confide these recollections to me."

Dumbledore tried to uncork the vial, but he was having much difficulty: his injured hand, which Elizabeth looked at with a mixture of pity and fascination, seemed stiff and painful. After a few more seconds of fumbling, the Headmaster pointed his wand at it and the cork flew off.

"Whose cursed ring did you put on, sir?" Liz said, curious. "Did it belong to Him? I read that many Horcruxes are protected with these sorts of things." More whispers came from the portraits.

"Now is not the moment for that story, Elizabeth. Not yet. We have an appointment with Bob Ogden."

Dumbledore tipped the silvery contents of the bottle into the Pensieve, where they swirled and shimmered, neither liquid nor gas. The Headmaster gestured for her to go first, so she slowly bent forwards and plunged her face into the silvery substance. She felt her tennis shoes leave the office floor; she was falling through whirling darkness and then, quite suddenly, she was blinking in dazzling sunlight. Dumbledore landed beside her.

They were standing on a country road bordered by tangled hedgerows, beneath a summer sky as bright as a forget-me-not. Some ten feet ahead stood a short, plump man wearing enormously thick glasses. Elizabeth knew this was Ogden; he was the only person in sight, and he was wearing the strange assortment of clothes that inexperienced wizards often chose to wear to resemble a Muggle: in this case, a frock-coat and spats over a striped one-piece bathing costume. Before Elizabeth had time to do more than register his bizarre appearance, however, Ogden set off at a brisk walk.

Dumbledore and Elizabeth followed. As they passed the wooden sign, Liz looked up at its two arms. The one pointing back the way they came read: Great Hangleton, 5 miles. The arm pointing after Ogden, much to Elizabeth's displeasure, said: Little Hangleton, 1 mile. Up ahead, she could see a village, undoubtedly Little Hangleton, nestled between two steep hills, its church and graveyard clearly visible. Across the valley, set on the opposite hillside, was a handsome manor house surrounded by a wide expanse of velvety green lawn. Ogden, instead of going towards the village, however, slipped through a hole in the hedge. Dumbledore and Elizabeth followed him onto a narrow dirt path bordered by higher and wilder hedgerows that seemed to be leading towards a patch of dark trees a little way ahead. Sure enough, the track soon opened up, and Dumbledore and Elizabeth came to a halt behind Ogden who had drawn his wand.

Despite the cloudless sky, the old trees ahead cast deep, dark, cool shadows and it was a few seconds before Elizabeth could discern the building half-hidden amongst the tangle of trunks. She wondered if it was inhabited; its walls were mossy and so many tiles had fallen off the roof that the rafters were visible in places. Nettles grew all around it, their tips reaching the windows, which were tiny and thick with grime. However, if Ogden had drawn his wand, it meant that someone was bound to live here. Her suspicions were confirmed when one of the small windows was thrown open with a clatter and a thin trickle of steam or smoke came out, as though somebody was cooking.

Ogden moved forwards quietly and, it seemed to Elizabeth, quite cautiously. As the dark shadows of the trees slid over him, he stopped again, staring at the front door, to which someone had nailed a dead snake. Then there was a rustle and a crack and a man in rags dropped from the nearest tree, landing on his feet right in front of Ogden, who leapt backwards so fast that he stood on the ends of his frock-coat and stumbled.

" _You're not welcome_ ," the man said. He was lacking several teeth. His hair was so dirty and matted it could have been any colour. His eyes were small and dark and stared in different directions. He might have looked comical, but he did not; the effect was frightening, and Liz didn't blame Ogden for backing away several paces before he spoke.

"Er - good morning. I'm from the Ministry of Magic-"

" _You're not welcome_."

"I-I'm sorry - I don't understand you," he said nervously.

Elizabeth would have thought Ogden was being extremely dim, as the stranger was making himself very clear by brandishing a wand in one hand, a rather bloody knife in another and while telling him he wasn't welcome, but she knew he was speaking Parseltongue; even while Elizabeth could understand what was being said, she distinguished the weird hissing noise that was all Ogden could hear.

"You understand him, I'm sure, Elizabeth?" Dumbledore said quietly.

"Yes, of course, he's speaking Parseltongue," Elizabeth said, slightly nonplussed.

The man in rags was now advancing on Ogden, knife in one hand, wand in the other.

"Now, look-"

Ogden was cut off. There was a bang, and the Ministry official was on the ground, clutching his nose, while a nasty yellowish goo squirted from between his fingers. Elizabeth would have jumped back had she not, like Dumbledore said earlier, mastered Occlumency.

"Morfin!" a loud voice said.

"Morfin?" Elizabeth said quizzically, remembering the name from her identity search in her second and third years. "Morfin Gaunt?"

An elderly man had come hurrying out of the cottage, banging the door behind him so that the dead snake swung pathetically. This man was shorter than the first, and oddly proportioned; his shoulders were broad and his arms overlong, which, with his bright brown eyes, short scrubby hair and wrinkled face, gave him the look of a powerful, aged monkey. Elizabeth looked at him closely; she'd seen his picture in the same books where she'd read about the Gaunts: this was Marvolo Gaunt. He came to a halt beside who Elizabeth assumed was Morfin, his son, who was now cackling at the sigh of Ogden on the ground.

"Ministry, is it?" Marvolo said, looking down at Ogden.

"Correct!" he replied angrily, dabbing his face. "And you, I take it, are Marvolo Gaunt?"

"That's right," Gaunt said. "Got you in the face, did he?"

"Yes, he did!"

"Should've made your presence known, shouldn't you? This is private property. Can't just walk in here and not expect my son to defend himself."

"Defend himself against what, man?" Ogden said, clambering back to his feet.

"Busybodies. Intruders. Muggles and filth."

Ogden pointed his wand at his own nose, which was still issuing large amounts of pus, and the flow stopped at once. Marvolo Gaunt spoke out of the corner of his mouth to Morfin.

" _Get in the house. Don't argue_." Morfin seemed to be on the verge of arguing, but when his father cast him a threatening look he changed his mind, lumbering away to the cottage with an odd gait and slamming the door behind him, so that the snake swung sadly.

"It's your son I'm here to see, Mr Gaunt," Ogden said, wiping the last of the pus from his frock-coat. "That was Morfin, wasn't it?"

"Ay, that was Morfin," the old man said indifferently. "Are you pure-blood?" he asked, suddenly aggressive.

"That's neither here nor there." Elizabeth felt her respect for Ogden rise.

"Now I come to think of it, I've seen noses like yours down in the village."

"I don't doubt it, if your son's been let loose on them," Ogden said. "Perhaps we could continue this discussion inside?"

"Inside?"

"Yes, Mr Gaunt. I've already told you. I'm here about Morfin. We sent an owl-"

"I've no use for owls," Gaunt said. "I don't open letters."

"Then you can hardly complain that you get no warning of visitors," Ogden said tartly. "I am here following a serious breach of wizarding law which occurred here in the early hours of the morning-"

"All right, all right, all right!" Gaunt bellowed. "Come in the bleeding house, then, and much good it'll do you!"

The house seemed to contain three little rooms. Two doors led off the main room, which served as kitchen and living room combined. Morfin was sitting in a filthy armchair beside the smoking fire, twisting a live Adder between his fingers and crooning at it softly in Parseltongue: _Hissy, hissy, little snakey. Slither on the floor. You be good to Morfin or he'll nail you to the door._

There was a scuffing noise in the corner beside the open window and Elizabeth realised that there was someone else in the room, a girl, barely older than herself, whose ragged grey dress was the same colour as the wall behind her: Merope Gaunt. She looked a little cleaner than the two men, but Elizabeth thought she had never seen a more defeated person. When Ogden tried to say hello, she did not answer. Instead she cast a frightened glance at her father and turned her back to the room.

"Mr Gaunt," Ogden began again, "as I've said: the reason for my visit-"

"I heard you the first time," Gaunt snapped. "And so what? Morfin gave a Muggle a bit of what was coming to him - what about it, then?"

"Morfin has broken wizarding law."

" _Morfin has broken wizarding law_." The old man imitated Ogden's voice, making it pompous and singsong. Morfin cackled again. "He taught a filthy Muggle a lesson, that's illegal, now, is it?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it is," Ogden said, pulling out a roll of parchment from his pocket.

"What's that then, his sentence?"

"It is a summons to the Ministry for a hearing-"

"Summons! Summons? Who do you think you are, summoning my son anywhere?"

"I'm Head of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad," Ogden said.

"And you think we're scum, do you?" Gaunt screamed, advancing on Ogden with a dirty yellow-nailed finger pointed at his chest. "Scum who'll come running when the Ministry tells 'em to? Do you know who you're talking to, you filthy little Mudblood, do you?"

"I was under the impression that I was speaking to Mr Gaunt," Ogden said, looking wary, but standing his ground.

"That's right!"

For a moment, Elizabeth thought Marvolo Gaunt was making an obscene hand gesture, but then realised that he was showing Ogden the ugly, black stoned ring he was wearing on his middle finger. Elizabeth could have sworn her lip began to feel numb.

"See this? Know what it is? Know where it came from? Centuries its been in our family, that's how far back we go, and pure-blood all the way! Know how much I've been offered for this, with the Peverell Coat of arms engraved on the stone?" he stormed off towards Merope and seized her by the necklace she was wearing. "See this?" he shouted, indicating the heavy gold locket that was crushing the girl's airway. "Slytherin's! Salazar Slytherin's! We're his last living descendants, what do you say to that, eh?" He let go of Merope who instantly rushed off.

"Mr Gaunt, I am afraid that that neither your ancestors nor mine have anything to do with the matter at hand," Ogden said. "I am here because of Morfin, Morfin and the Muggle he accosted late last night. Our information," he glanced down at his parchment, "is that Morfin performed a jinx or a hex on said Muggle, causing him to erupt in highly painful hives." Morfin giggled.

" _Be quiet, boy_ ," Gaunt snarled in Parseltongue, and Morfin fell silent again. "So what if he did? I expect you've wiped the Muggle's filthy face clean for him, and his memory to boot-"

"That's hardly the point, is it Mr Gaunt?" Ogden said. "This was an unprovoked attack on a defenceless Muggle. Look, this discussion is getting us nowhere," he continued firmly. "It is clear from your son's attitude that he feels no remorse for his actions." He glanced down at his parchment again. "Morfin will attend a hearing on the fourteenth of September to answer the charges of using magic in front and on a Mugg-"

Ogden broke off. The jingling, clopping sounds of horses and loud, laughing voices were drifting in through the open window. Apparently, the winding lane to the villages passed very close to the copse where the house stood. Gaunt froze, listening, his eyes wide. Morfin hissed and turned his face towards the sounds, his expression terrifyingly hungry. Merope raised her head. Elizabeth saw that her face was starkly white.

"My God, what an eyesore!" girl's voice rang out, as clearly audible through the open window as if she stood in the room beside them. "Couldn't your father have that hovel cleared away, Tom?"

"It's not ours," a young man's voice said. "Everything on the other side of the valley belongs to us, but that cottage belongs to an old tramp called Gaunt and his children. The son's quite mad, you should hear some of the stories they tell in the village."

The girl laughed. The jingling and clopping noises were growing louder and louder. Morfin made a move to get out of his armchair, but Marvolo Gaunt warned him not to move, in Parseltongue.

"Tom," the girl's voice said again, "I might be wrong - but has someone nailed a snake to that door?"

"Good Lord, you're right!" the man's voice said. "That'll be the son, I told you he's not right in the head. Don't look at it, Cecilia, darling."

"' _Darling_ '," Morfin whispered in Parseltongue as the horses' sounds grew fainter again and looking at his sister. "' _Darling', he called her. So he wouldn't have you anyway_." Merope went so white Elizabeth thought she would faint.

" _What's that_?" Gaunt said sharply, in Parseltongue as well, looking between his son and his daughter. "What did you say, Morfin?"

" _She likes looking at that Muggle_ ," Morfin said, a vicious expression on his face as he stared at his sister, who now looked terrified. " _Always in the garden when he passes, peering through the hedge at him, isn't she? And last night_ -" Merope shook her head jerkily, imploringly, but Morfin went on ruthlessly, " _Hanging out of the window waiting for him to ride home, wasn't she? Hanging out of that window to look at that Muggle_."

All three Gaunts seemed to have forgotten Bob Ogden, who was still standing there, now looking as confused as ever, hearing the same hissing he heard coming from Morfin earlier and not understanding a word of it. Dumbledore looked on as well, not looking confused, but Elizabeth could tell he was finding things hard to follow without the ability of speaking Parseltongue like her and the Gaunts.

" _Is it true?_ " Gaunt said in a deadly voice, advancing a step or two towards the terrified girl. " _My daughter - pure-blooded descendant of Salazar Slytherin - hankering after a dirty-veined Muggle_?"

Merope shook her head frantically, pressing herself into the wall, apparently unable to speak and willing to disappear into the greyness of the stone behind her.

" _But I got him, Father_!" Morfin cackled. " _I got him as he went by, and he didn't look so pretty with hives all over him, did he, Merope_?"

" _You disgusting little Squib, you filthy little blood traitor_!" Gaunt roared, losing control, his hands closing around his daughter's throat.

"No!" Ogden cried, pulling out his wand again. "Relashio!"

Gaunt was thrown backwards, away from his daughter; he tripped over a chair and fell on his back. With a roar of rage, Morfin leapt out of his chair and ran at Ogden, brandishing his bloody knife and firing hexes from his wand. Ogden ran for his life. Dumbledore indicated that they ought to follow and Elizabeth obeyed, Merope's screams echoing in her ears.

Ogden hurtled up the path and erupted onto the main lane, his arms over his head, where he collided with the glossy chestnut horse ridden by a very handsome, dark-haired boy. Both he and the pretty girl riding beside him on a grey horse roared with laughter at the sight of Ogden, who bounced off the horse's flank and set off again, his frock-coat flying and covered head to foot in dust.

"I think that will do," Dumbledore said. He took Elizabeth by the elbow and tugged. The next moment, they were both soaring weightlessly through darkness, until they landed back in Dumbledore's now twilit office.

"Merope survived, didn't she?" Elizabeth said at once, as Dumbledore lit extra lamps with a flick of his wand.

"That's right," Dumbledore said, smiling in approval. "I am glad to see you're keeping up."

"Marvolo Gaunt was You-Know-Who's grandfather... and Merope was his mother."

"Yes, they were. And it so happens that we caught a glimpse of Voldemort's father. I wonder whether you noticed?"

"The Muggle that Morfin attacked?"

"Very good indeed," Dumbledore said, beaming. "Yes, that was Tom Riddle Senior, the handsome Muggle who used to go riding past the Gaunt cottage and for whom Merope Gaunt cherished a secret, burning passion."

"And they got married?" Elizabeth said in disbelief. She began reasoning aloud, "I'm sure that her magic wasn't at her best when Morfin and their father were there, but once they were off in Azkaban... Did she use a love potion or the Imperius Curse?"

"Personally, I am inclined to think that it was a love potion. I am sure it would have seemed more romantic to her," Dumbledore said.

"More romantic?" Liz scoffed. "Forcing someone to love you isn't romantic, no matter the manner in which it happens."

"No matter, Elizabeth, the outcome is still the same."

"Marvolo died while Morfin was still in Azkaban and Merope - she died shortly after she gave birth, didn't she? Wasn't You-Know-Who raised in an Orphanage?"

"Yes, he was," Dumbledore said. "But Merope didn't have him until a year after her marriage to Tom Riddle Sr. We have to go some guessing here, but I am certain that Tom Riddle her while she was pregnant."

"What went wrong?" Elizabeth asked.

"Again, this is guesswork, but I believe that Merope, who was deeply in love with her husband, could not bear to continue enslaving him by magical means. I believe that she made the choice to stop giving him the potion. Perhaps, besotted as she was, she had convinced herself that he would have by now fallen in love with her in return. Perhaps she thought he would stay for the baby's sake."

"But she was wrong on both counts. Tom Riddle left her, never say her again, and never troubled to discover what became of his son," Elizabeth muttered to herself.

The sky outside was inky black and the lamps in Dumbledore's office seemed to glow more brightly than before.

"I think that will do for tonight, Elizabeth," Dumbledore said after a moment or two. "We can resume next Thursday, where, if I am not mistaken, you have no classes?"

"Yes, sir," Elizabeth said, rising from her seat, but she did not leave. "Sir... this is important, is it not?"

"Very important, I think."

"And... this somehow has something to do with Horcruxes and my brother's life?"

"It has everything to do with it. Oh, and, Elizabeth," Dumbledore said as she began to walk away.

"Yes, sir?" she replied.

"I am going to ask you to repeat this to no one, of course. We cannot be certain who we can trust with this information."

"No, sir, of course."

Elizabeth turned away again, and was almost at the door when she saw it. Sitting on one of the little spindle-legged tables that supported so many frail-looking silver contraptions was an ugly gold ring set with a large, cracked black stone.

"Have you always had the ring, sir?" Elizabeth asked, thoughts running wild.

"No, I acquired it very recently," Dumbledore said. "A weeks before the start of term, in fact."

"Would that be around the time your hand was injured, sir?" She unconsciously rubbed her left arm.

"You are quite clever, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth smiled slightly at the ring, her back still towards Dumbledore. Of course she was clever; she had to be. If she wasn't, Dumbledore wouldn't have chosen her for the task of killing him or infiltrating the Death Eaters' ranks, now would he?

It was clear now, to her anyway, that the ring that Marvolo Gaunt wore was the cursed object Dumbledore had touched. Whether it was cursed by Marvolo prior to his death or cursed by the Dark Lord when, and if, he made it a Horcrux. The Slytherin wondered whether the locket Merope wore had had the same fate as the ring.

Elizabeth, quite without fear, pulled her sleeve over her right hand and took the ring. A few portraits began whispering again. Her lip felt numb once more as she stared at the near-opaque stone. It's a Horcrux, she thought immediately, the numbing on her mouth making her certain of it, or at least it was one since I'm not screaming my head off. Did the crack in it mean it no longer contained a fragment of soul? Did it mean the curse on it was no longer effective?

Elizabeth looked closer at the stone; the Peverell coat of arms, or so Marvolo Gaunt said it was, was indeed engraved into the back of the stone: a circle cut through the middle by a straight line, and a triangle surrounding them both. The symbol seemed familiar to Elizabeth somehow.

"Elizabeth..." Dumbledore said quietly. Liz turned to face him, setting the ring down first.

"Yes, sir?" she said coolly, face inscrutable.

"I am truly sorry."

"To what error are you referring to?"

"The one on your left arm."

* * *

1: In the novels by J.K. Rowling, Secrets of the Darkest Art is safely hidden in Albus Dumbledore's office.


	105. Excruciatingly Busy Schedules

As Elizabeth had predicted, the sixth years' free periods were not the hours of blissful relaxation that Draco had hoped, but times in which to attempt to keep up with the vast amount of homework they were being given. Not only were they studying as though they had exams everyday, but the lessons themselves that become more demanding than ever before and, for Elizabeth and Draco, the stress of getting Death Eaters into Hogwarts and killing Dumbledore was greater than ever. These days, Draco was barely understanding half of what McGonagall was saying; even Elizabeth and Hermione had to ask for her repeat instructions once or twice.

Non-verbal spells spells were now expected, not only in Defence Against the Dark Arts, but in Charms and Transfiguration as well. Elizabeth often looked over at her classmates in the Common Room or at mealtimes to see them purple-faced and straining as though they'd overdosed on Fred and George's U-No-Poo; but they were really only struggling to make their spells work without saying the incantation aloud. It was a relief, for Elizabeth, to get outside to the greenhouses (despite Hermione, Ron and Harry being there); they were dealing with the more dangerous plants than ever in Herbology, but at least they were permitted to swear loudly if the Venomous Tentacula seized them unexpectedly from behind.

One of the results of their enormous workload and the near-frantic hours of practising and studying was that Draco and Elizabeth had so far been unable to attempt to murder Dumbledore or begin repairing the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement. They had nearly stopped coming to meals altogether, instead summoning plates of food to the Common Room, and spoke only of their respective missions when people weren't around to eavesdrop on them.

It was now lunch-time on Saturday, and the weather couldn't have been better. The bright sun shone down on the green grasses of the grounds, and a light breeze rustled the leaves on trees. The Black Lake was calm, the Giant Squid leisurely swimming at the bottom, and students were outside studying or gossiping, but nonetheless smiling on this fine day.

"I've got to go to the Pitch, boys," Elizabeth said, rising from her seat as she stuffed a strawberry in her mouth. "Trials might take all afternoon, the number of people who've applied." She swore under her breath. "I've got no clue why Quidditch is so popular this year."

"Oh, come on, Evans," Zabini said, smirking. "It's not Quidditch that's popular, it's you! You've never been more interesting and, frankly, you've never been more fanciable."

Draco choked on a piece of chicken.

"Everyone knows you've been telling the truth or whatever, and now their calling you the 'Chosen One' - well, come one, can't you see why people are fascinated by you?"

"No, not really," Elizabeth replied simply, feeling very hot all of a sudden.

"Me either," Parkinson said.

"Come off it, Parkinson," Blaise said. "You're a legend, Evans, something to aspire to. Besides, it doesn't hurt that you're damn fine."

"Zabini," Draco warned.

"Hey, I'm just saying," he chuckled.

"Whatever, I'm off to the Pitch," Elizabeth said, shaking her head at the two boys. "I better see your arses down there or I might have to put Parkinson on the team."

"Hey!"

But Elizabeth didn't listen to Parkinson's protests. She left the Slytherin table to head down to the Quidditch Pitch, passing many students who, when she walked past them, followed her with their gaze. Even a few seventh year boys had smiled brightly at her, hoping to get her attention, but she ignored them, waving her wand at a few fourth years and summoning their Screaming Yo-yo's.

As Elizabeth expected, the trials took most of the afternoon. Half of the Slytherin House seemed to have turned up, from first years who were nervously clutching a selection of dreadful old school brooms, to seventh years who towered the rest looking coolly at Liz as she read the list of potentials. She looked up at everyone and saw that both Draco and Blaise had just arrived.

"All right, ladies," she said, standing straight, hands behind her back, "we're going to start things off with a simple flying test to see if you can all actually fly." She send a pointed look towards the group of nervous first years. "Separate into groups of ten and, one group at a time, circle the pitch for me. Well, what're you waiting for?" People began dividing.

"What's stopping you from cheating and making your boyfriend join the team?" a seventh year said, glaring at Malfoy. People stopped talking almost instantly.

"Your name?"

"Urquhart."

"Well, Urquhart, if you're here to prove to me that there's a better seeker for this team other than Draco Malfoy, good for you and good luck," Liz said sharply, gazing coldly up at the dark-haired boy. "But until you're up there and humiliating yourself, I suggest you sit your arse down and let the first team go up, yeah? Besides, you're trying out for keeper so why do you care?"

A few of his fellow seventh years laughed as Urquhart begrudgingly walked back to his spot and joined a group of ten. Immediately, the first group flew up and Liz knew at once that her decision was best: the first ten was made up of first years and it could not be clearer that they had hardly ever flown before. Only one boy managed to remain airborne for more than a few seconds, and he was so surprised he crashed into one of the goalposts. The second group comprised ten of the most imbecilic boys Elizabeth had ever seen, who, when she blew her whistle, merely fell about laughing and clutching each other like giddy teenage girls. When she told them to leave they did so quite cheerfully and winked at her, going to sit on the stands with everyone else. The third group had a pile-up halfway around the pitch. Most of the fourth group had come without broomsticks. The fifth group were a bunch of seventh year Ravenclaws.

"If there's anyone else here who's not from Slytherin," Elizabeth roared, seriously annoyed, "leave now, or you'll get the same thing I gave my brother on Monday!"

There was a short pause, then a couple of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs went sprinting off the pitch, scared or snorting with laughter.

After two hours, many complaints and several tantrums, one involving a crashed Comet Two-Sixty and several broken teeth, Elizabeth had found herself two Chasers, besides herself: Adrian Pucey returned to the team after an excellent trial, and Blaise Zabini had proven himself very worthy of the second open spot. She had also found a promising substitute called Vaisey, who was, unfortunately, one of the boys looking at her up and down like a piece of meat. Though very dim-witted, Crabbe and Goyle were the best beaters up for the job, so she had to take them, but Pike was a formidable substitute should either one of them not make it to the pitch. Of course, no one beat Draco at his own game, and managed to keep his position as Seeker although his substitute, Harper, was indeed very skilled at catching the small golden snitch. And, much to Urquhart's displeasure, Miles Bletchley was a much better keeper than he was, so he got the substitute position while Miles smiled gratefully at her for giving him the same position he had the previous year.

"You didn't even try," Urquhart said menacingly, a vein pulsating in his forehead.

"Are you questioning me, Urquhart? Because I can remove you from the subs list altogether if you aren't happy," Elizabeth said just as dangerously.

Urquhart took a step nearer Elizabeth, who stood her ground, gazing coldly at the towering boy.

"You gave Bletchley an easy save."

"Rubbish, that was the one he nearly missed."

"Give me another go."

"No," Liz said sharply. "You've had your go. You saved four, Miles saved five. Bletchley's keeper, he won it fair and square. Now, get out of my way or I will hex you out if it."

She thought for a moment that Urquhart might punch her, but he contented himself with an ugly grimace and stormed away, growling what sounded like threats to thin air. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and turn around to find her team beaming at her.

"Well done, ladies," the only girl on the team said. "You flew great."

"Thanks, Evans," Bletchley smiled.

"Don't thank me, thank your talent. Besides, even if he'd beaten you I wouldn't have taken him on as Keeper. What an arse... Anyway, same time next week for our first practise, all right? Don't be late."

"See you, Captain!"

Liz chuckled and most of the team left, leaving Draco and Blaise behind to return to the castle together. The blond trapped his girlfriend in a side hug, arm swung lazily over her shoulders, and kissed the top of her head, making Zabini pretend to gag.

"Oh, come off it, Zabini," Liz laughed, "You've seen us do worse."

"Unfortunately," he sighed.

The smell of roast beef in the Great Hall made Elizabeth's stomach ache with hunger, but they had barely reached the Slytherin table when Professor Slughorn appeared in front of them, blocking their path.

"Elizabeth, Blaise, just the two I was hoping to see!" he boomed genially, quite indifferent about Draco's presence. "I was hoping to catch you before dinner! What do you say to a spot of supper tonight in my rooms instead? We're having a little party, just a few rising stars. I've got McLaggen coming, the charming Melinda Bobbin, and of course your brother and his friend Hermione Granger, quite clever that one."

"Sorry, Professor, but I don't think I made myself clear enough on the train the other day," Elizabeth said calmly, though clearly annoyed. "I thought the news of me injuring someone so badly would scare you off but I guess not..."

"But you didn't mean to, of course," Slughorn said, still beaming. "A spell gone wrong, or-"

"My spells don't go wrong, Professor. I fully intended on injuring that man," Liz said coldly. "Anyway, I have no interest whatsoever in being a part of your little collection of people you can leech fame from." She paused for a moment, observing the Professor's face slowly dropping. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I just came back from a six hour Quidditch trial and I'd very much like to eat immediately. However, I'm sure that Blaise, here, would love to attend one of your parties. Good evening."

Elizabeth grabbed Draco's hand and pushed past Professor Slughorn, settling herself down at her usual spot at the table. She began filling her plate immediately as her boyfriend sat down next to her; she could see him looking at her in the corner of her eye.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy?" she said, and stuffed a piece of roast beef in her mouth.

"Again with the threatening, come on, Ella," he growled, kissing Ella's jaw.

"I'm eating!"

"Oh, so food is more important than me, is it?"

"Right now it is. I haven't eaten in six hours, you git," Elizabeth chuckled. Draco turned her head and she stared blankly at him. "What?"

"You're beautiful, you know that?" he smiled softly, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her face.

"Shut up, Draco Malfoy," Ella smiled, looking away, a blush staining her cheeks.

"You love me."

"It's unfortunate, really."

With a triumphant smile, Draco started piling up food on his plate, all the while boasting to first years nearby that he was dating the Elizabeth Evans. Meanwhile, all Ella could concentrate on was Harry, at the other end of the Hall, sneaking glances at the Potions book she so desperately wanted to get her hands on. It seemed that Harry realised he was being watched, as he raised his head and green met green. Elizabeth smiled a bit, despite her better judgement, but Harry simply glared, quite understandably, and looked away. The loss of her friends and brother's trust was now definitely gone. Or was it?

Hermione was eyeing the mysterious Potions book quite disapprovingly, which seemed quite like something she would do. Maybe Hermione was the key to Elizabeth's success; maybe she didn't have to use the Felix Felicis to get the book, and use it, instead, for finding information on how to get the Vanishing Cabinet up and running.

When supper was over and after confiscating more Weasley Wizard Wheezes products from second years, Elizabeth walked down to the Slytherin Dungeon while Draco went off somewhere with Zabini. She ran straight for one of the empty desks. She set down a small bit of parchment and took out her quill.

 ** _Hermione-_**

 ** _I know you probably don't want to speak with me, but I need this from you._**

 ** _I'm aware that you don't approve of the book Harry inherited - I've seen the way you look at it - and so, if you will, find a time Harry won't miss it and send me a note._**

 ** _If you want, we can meet then, and I can explain my reasoning._**

 ** _Sincerely,_**

 ** _Your sister._**

With a small tap of her wand, the piece of parchment Elizabeth had written on folded itself into an origami-like bird. She grabbed it and walked into the corridor of the Dungeons, waiting for everyone to enter the common room. She brought it close to her mouth and whispered: To Hermione Granger. At once, the bird flew away and up the stairs. Going back to the Common Room, Elizabeth hoped it would reach her, and if it did, she hoped that Hermione still had a little faith in her.


	106. The Book and Tom Riddle

**_Elizabeth-_**

 ** _You're wrong when you said that I don't want to talk to you; I need to talk to you, I need to know what's gotten into you._**

 ** _However, you're right that I don't approve of that stupid book._**

 ** _Harry and Ron have Quidditch practise on Thursday in the afternoon - meet me at the Astronomy tower right after lunch; I'll have the book with me._**

 ** _Sincerely,_**

 ** _Your sister._**

* * *

Finding an excuse to slip away from Draco and their mission was easier than expected, and so, Elizabeth, right after lunch on Thursday, calmly walked up to the Astronomy tower as to not raise too much unwanted attention since the tower was off limits save for classes. Once again taking a Weasley Wizard Wheezes product away from a few fourth years, Elizabeth climbed up the steps to the Astronomy Tower, and gazing out at the murky sky. The clouds swirled lightly above the castle, their pale grey color suggesting a long, mild storm to come.

A long exhale from Elizabeth's pink lips nearly drowned out the quiet footsteps that were approaching from behind. She didn't even need to turn to know that Hermione had come to see her. Relief washed over her; it was comforting to know that at least someone still had faith in her, even if they were weary of her actions.

"Didn't think you'd come," Liz said, gazing out over the grounds.

"I didn't have much reason to come," Hermione said, coming to stand next to the Slytherin, "except that I wanted to talk to you... ask you a few things."

"I hope you know I can't tell you everything. It's not that I don't want to - because trust me, I do - I just can't."

"Harry keeps saying that to Ron and I as well."

"Yeah, well, Harry's predicament is a bit worse than mine," Elizabeth chuckled. "It involves him directly."

"And yours doesn't?" Hermione said, turning to face Elizabeth.

"No. My predicament involves other people; things that are going to happen to other people."

"Can I ask you something?" Liz nodded, gaze still fixed upon the horizon. "Can we trust you?"

"When all hell breaks loose - and trust me, it will - I hope you trust me. But I have to be honest with you; you're not going to want to trust me."

"That bad?"

"That bad, 'Mione." Elizabeth stole a quick glance at her friend. "You have the book?"

There was a short rustling sound, indicating that Hermione was fetching something from her bag, and then she held out the worn Potions book that Harry had been using the past few weeks; the book that seemed to be guaranteeing him grades as good as Elizabeth's. Without looking at Hermione, really, Liz grabbed the textbook and began rifling through it. Fascinated, Elizabeth turned around and sat cross-legged on the floor, nose practically touching the pages. Hermione sat down beside her, curious about her friend's intentions and fascination with the textbook.

Squinting to read parts of the somehow familiar writing, Elizabeth saw that the previous owner of the book had scribbled all over the pages, so that the margins were nearly as black as the printed portions. Even Elizabeth hadn't noted this many things and was amazed to see all the modifications that were brought to each and every potion. In some, the previous owner had even crossed out ingredients and replaced them with different ones or taken them out all together. Elizabeth was pleased, however, that the modifications she had made to her own textbook were also made in this one, for the instructions to make the Draught of Living Death were exactly as her own.

"Hey, did you know that there are spells in here too?"

"What?"

The more Elizabeth poured over the book, the more she realised how much was actually in there, not only the handy hints and short cuts on Potions that were earning Harry Potter such a glowing - and irritating - reputation with Slughorn, but also imaginative little jinxes and hexes scribbled in the same margins which Elizabeth was sure, judging by the crossings-out and revisions, that the previous owner of the book had invented himself, and a few that she recognised: the Toenail-Growth Hex, Muffiliato and, prized by bullies and tormentors of all kinds, the non-verbal version of Levicorpus (and its counter-curse, Liberacorpus), the spell that a young James Potter had used on a young Severus Snape in the memory she wasn't supposed to have seen. However, complete shock invaded her mind and erased her shame of invading her professor's privacy the instant she saw, under a folded corner of a page, a spell that she herself had used before, its counter-curse nowhere to be seen.

"Merlin's beard..." she gasped.

"What? What is it?" Hermione said, slightly panicked. Elizabeth rose and slammed the book shut, thrusting it into Hermione's arms.

"I've gotta go."

"No, wait! Elizabeth!"

"What?" she said, turning around, instantly calm.

"You were freaking out just a second ago, what's wrong? Is it about the book?" Hermione asked.

"Try, with all your might, to get that book away from Harry, understand? And especially, do not let him use that spell."

"The spell - in the corner?"

"It's dangerous, Hermione. Really dangerous."

"How dangerous?" she asked, looking seriously worried.

"That's the spell that killed Travers."

Hermione gasped and stared at Elizabeth, whose cool exterior did not match what she was feeling on the inside. Suddenly, she stormed away and off to see her Head of House. If Harry had seen that spell, he would surely try and use it against his enemies, his enemies being Severus Snape, Draco Malfoy and herself. And without the counter-curse to the spell in the textbook, Harry would have no way of reversing it if he ever made the stupid decision of attempting the curse on a person. Sectumsempra was not a thing one took lightly.

Elizabeth ignored the Ravenclaw Prefect who shouted at her for running down the halls and setting a bad example for other students, and continued her race to the Dungeons. When she had arrived in front of Professor Snape's office door, she didn't even bother to knock and simply burst in, panting heavily, yet eerily calm. Snape, who was sitting calmly at his desk, grading papers, barely even flinched when Elizabeth stormed in, merely looking up and raising a quizzical eyebrow.

"Harry's got your book, sir!" she said rapidly.

"Excuse me?" the man replied, his expression unchanging.

"I'm sure you've heard that Harry's gotten rave reviews in Potions, which is absurd because he's no good at it; I mean he's as smart as a brick wall when it comes to Potions and-"

"Move on, Miss Evans."

"I was pissed that he and I tied for the Felix Felicis challenge that Slughorn gave us so when I looked over at his cauldron to make sure his concoction looked decent, I saw that his Potions book - the one he borrowed from the cupboard in the back of the classroom - was scribbled in just like mine and I suddenly felt like I needed to get my hands on it. So I asked Hermione to get it for me so I could check it out and see whose genius Harry was using," Elizabeth took a breath. "I just finished reading it and just before I closed the book, I saw that the spell you showed me before the Triwizard Tournament - Sectumsempra - was in there and I knew that Harry had your book. And, seeing as the counter-curse you also showed me isn't in it, I'm worried that my idiotic brother is going to use the spell on someone without knowing what it is... sir!" Elizabeth added hastily.

Elizabeth stood there exhausted from her sprint and panting because of her speech which was said in no more than two breaths. Snape, however, kept his calm and indifferent demeanor which forced the girl's breathing to even out. When she was just as expressive as Snape, he set his quill down and gestured towards the chair in front of his desk. Elizabeth sat down.

"And why did you not take this information up to the Headmaster?" Snape said.

"Well, it's your textbook, isn't it, sir? Not Dumbledore's." Liz replied.

"Very true... Thank you, Miss Evans for the information, I'll confront your brother as soon as possible."

"Of course." Elizabeth rose from her seat but didn't leave. "Did you really invent all those spells, sir? Sectumsempra, Levicorpus, Muffiliato, Langlock - all of them?"

"I had quite a bit of time on my hands when I attended school," Snape said, which Elizabeth translated into a simple yes.

"Brilliant," Liz breathed, barely above a whisper.

"You shouldn't think it brilliant, Miss Evans, as you yourself have created your own jinx. We can still see the marks on Miss Edgecombe's face," Professor Snape said.

"Oh, right," Elizabeth chuckled, remembering the thick amount of makeup Marietta had to wear to only cover a smidge of the effects of her jinx.

"Well, if that's all, Miss Evans," Snape handed her a roll of parchment sealed with the Hogwarts coat of arms, "the Headmaster is waiting for you in his office."

It was nearing the evening and so Elizabeth permitted herself in changing out of her school robes to go meet Dumbledore, as she was sure the meeting would last until the wee hours of the night. Then, walking up the staircase to the Dungeons, Elizabeth unfurled the roll of parchment from Dumbledore and read it as she walked towards his office, the crowd of people parting for her as she walked. It was almost as if she were royalty, but Ella was persuaded it was because they had learned that she'd injured Travers on purpose and were more scared of her than ever.

When she entered Dumbledore's office, the Headmaster sat as his desk looking unusually tired; his hand was black and dead-looking as ever, but he smiled when he gestured for Elizabeth to sit down. The Pensieve was sitting on the desk again, casting silvery specks of light on the ceiling.

"You've had a busy time since our last meeting," Dumbledore said.

"I have, sir," Elizabeth answered. "I've constructed a decent Quidditch team, I've taken a look at Harry's recent success in Potions, but I've scarcely had the time to do anything that You-Know-Who has asked me to do. Neither has Draco and I can tell the pressure is starting to get to him; he's not confident he'll make up for his father's mistakes anymore."

"And your own tasks?"

"I'm working on that."

Dumbledore nodded and retrieved a fresh bottle of silver memories from inside his robes, uncorking it with a prod of his wand. Elizabeth watched him as he poured its contents into the Pensieve, and began swirling in the shallow stone basin.

"You will remember, I am sure, that we left the tale of Lord Voldemort's beginnings at the point where the handsome Muggle, Tom Riddle, had abandoned his witch wife, Merope, and returned to his family home in Little Hangleton. Merope was left alone in London, expecting the baby who would one day become Lord Voldemort."

"How do we know she was left in London, sir?"

"Because of the evidence of one Caractacus Burke," Dumbledore said.

"One of the owners of that shop in Knockturn Alley?" Elizabeth asked.

Dumbledore swirled the contents of the Pensieve, much like gold prospectors sift for gold. Up out of the swirling, silvery mass rose a little old man, revolving slowly in the Pensieve, silver as a ghost but much more solid, with a thatch of hair that completely covered his eyes.

" _Yes, we acquired it in curious circumstances. It was brought in by a young witch just before Christmas, oh, many years ago now. She said she needed the gold badly, well, that much was obvious. Covered in rags and pretty far along... going to have a baby, see. She said the locket had been Slytherin's. Well, we hear that sort of story all the time, 'Oh, this was Merlin's, this was, his favourite teapot,' but when I looked at it, it had his mark all right, and a few simple spells were enough to tell me the truth. Of course, that made it near enough priceless. She didn't seem to have any idea how much it was worth. Happy to get ten Galleons for it. Best bargain we ever made_!"

Dumbledore gave the Pensieve an extra-vigorous shake and Caractacus Burke descended back into the swirling mass of memory whence he had come. Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed.

"He gave her only ten Galleons? But the locket - its worth hundreds if not thousands of Galleons," she said indignantly.

"Caractacus Burke was not famed for his generosity," Dumbledore said. "So we know that, near the end of her pregnancy, Merope was alone in London and in desperate need of gold, desperate enough to sell her one and only valuable possession, the locket that was one of Marvolo's treasure family heirlooms."

"But she could do magic," Elizabeth said impatiently. "She could have gotten food and everything for herself by magic."

"Ah," Dumbledore said, "perhaps she could. But it is my belief that when her husband abandoned her, Merope stopped using magic." Elizabeth scoffed. "Of course, it is also possible that her unrequited love and the attendant despair sapped her of her powers; that can happen. In any case, as you are about to see, Merope refused to raised her wand even to save her own life."

"She wouldn't even stay alive for her son?"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Could you possibly be feeling sorry for Lord Voldemort?"

"No, not for You-Know-Who; but for Tom Riddle, an innocent and unborn boy? Most definitely." Elizabeth said immediately. "She had a choice to save herself and her son."

"Yes, Merope chose death in spite of a son who needed her," Dumbledore said, "but do not judge her too harshly, Elizabeth. She was greatly weakened by long suffering and never had much courage. And now, if you will stand... This time, we are going to enter my memory. I think you will find it both rich in detail and satisfyingly accurate. After you, Elizabeth..."

Elizabeth bent over the Pensieve and her face broke the cool surface of the memory, then she was falling through darkness again. Seconds later, her feet hit firm ground; she opened her eyes and found that she and Dumbledore were standing in a bustling, old-fashioned London street. Just ahead of them, crossing the road in front of a horse-drawn milk cart, was a younger Albus Dumbledore, whose hair and beard were auburn in colour. Having reached the other side of the street, he strode off along the pavement, drawing many curious glances due to the flamboyantly cut suit of plum velvet he was wearing. Elizabeth and Dumbledore followed his younger self a short distance, finally passing through a set of iron gates into a bare courtyard that fronted a rather grim, square building surrounded by high railings. He mounted the few steps leading to the front door and knocked once. After a moment, the door was opened by a scruffy girl wearing an apron.

"Good afternoon. I have an appointment with a Mrs Cole, who, I believe, is the matron here?"

"Oh," the bewildered-looking girl said, taking in Dumbledore's eccentric appearance. "Um... just a mo'... MRS COLE!" she bellowed over her shoulder. Elizabeth heard indistinct shouting. "Come in, she'd on 'er way."

Dumbledore stepped into a hallway tiled in black and white; the whole place was shabby but spotlessly clean. Elizabeth and the older Dumbledore followed. Before the front door had closed behind them, a skinny, harassed-looking woman came scurrying forwards. She had a sharp-featured face that appeared more anxious than unkind and she was talking over her shoulder to another aproned helper as she walked over to the auburn-haired Dumbledore.

"... and take the iodine upstairs to Martha, Billy Stubbs has been picking at his scabs again and Eric Whalley's oozing all over his sheets - chicken pox on top of everything else," she said to nobody in particular, and then her eyes fell upon Dumbledore and she stopped dead in her tracks, looking as astonished as if an elephant had just crossed in front of her.

"Good afternoon," Dumbledore said, holding out his hand. Mrs Cole simply gaped. "My name is Albus Dumbledore. I sent you a letter requesting an appointment and you very kindly invited me here today."

"Oh, yes. Well - well, then - you'd better come into my room, yes."

She led Dumbledore into a small room that seemed part sitting room, part office. It was as shabby as the hallway and the furniture was old and mismatched. She invited Dumbledore to sit on a rickety chair and seated herself behind a cluttered desk, eyeing him nervously.

"I am here, as I told you in my letter, to discuss Tom Riddle and arrangements for his future," Dumbledore said.

"Are you family?" Mrs Cole asked.

"No, I am a teacher. I have come to offer Tom a place at my school."

"What school's this, then?"

"It is called Hogwarts," Dumbledore said simply.

"And how come you're interested in Tom?"

"We believe he has qualities we are looking for."

"You mean he's won a scholarship? How can he have done? He's never been entered in one."

"Well, his name has been down for our school since birth-"

"Who registered him? His parents?"

There was no doubt that Mrs Cole was an inconveniently sharp woman. Apparently Dumbledore thought so too, for Elizabeth now saw him slip his wand out of the pocket of his velvet suit, at the same time picking up a piece of perfectly blank paper from Mrs Cole's desktop.

"Here," Dumbledore said, waving his wand once as he passed her the piece of paper, "I think this will make things perfectly clear."

Mrs Cole's eyes slid out of focus and back again as she gazed intently at the blank piece of paper for a moment.

"That seems perfectly in order," she said placidly, handing it back.

"I was wondering whether you could tell me anything of Tom Riddle's history? I think he was born in the orphanage?"

"That's right. I remember it clear as anything, because I'd just started here myself. New Year's Eve and bitter cold, snowing, you know. And this girl, hot much older than myself at the time, came staggering up the front steps. Well, she wasn't the first. We took her in and she had the baby within the hour. And she was dead in another hour."

"Did she say anything before she died?" Dumbledore asked. "Anything about the boy's father for instance?"

"Now, as it happens, she did," Mrs Cole said, who seemed to be rather enjoying herself now, as she had an audience to tell a story. "I remember she said to me, 'I hope he looks like his papa,' and I won't lie, she was right to hope it, because the girl was no beauty - and then she told me he was to be named Tom, for his father, and Marvolo, for her father - yes, I know, funny name, isn't it? - and she said the boy's surname was to be Riddle. And she died soon after that without another word." The woman paused. "He's a funny boy."

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "I thought he might be... Funny in what way?"

But Mrs Cole pulled up short, and there was nothing blurry or vague about the inquisitorial glance she shot Dumbledore.

"He's definitely got a place at your school, you say? And nothing I say can change that?"

"Nothing," Dumbledore said.

"You'll be taking him away, whatever?"

"Whatever," Dumbledore said gravely.

"He scares other children," Mrs Cole said after a moment.

"You mean he is a bully?" Dumbledore asked,

"I think that he must be," Mrs Cole said, frowning slightly, "but it's very hard to catch him at it. There have been incidents... nasty things..."

Dumbledore did not press her, though Elizabeth could tell that he was just as interested as she was at the moment. To Dumbledore's good fortune, however, she continued on her own.

"Billy Stubbs' rabbit... well, Tom said he didn't do it and I don't see how he could have done, but even so, it didn't hang itself from the rafters, did it?"

"I shouldn't think so, no," Dumbledore said quietly.

"All I know is that he and Billy had argued the day before. And then - on the summer outing - we take them out, you know, once a year, to the countryside or the seaside - well, Amy Benson and Dennis Bishop were never quite right afterwards, and all we ever got out of them was that they'd gone exploring, but something happened in there, I'm sure of it... I don't think many people will be sorry to see the back of him."

"You understand, I'm sure, that we will not be keeping him permanently?" Dumbledore said. "He will have to return here, at the very least, every summer."

"Oh, well that's better than a whack on the nose with a rusty poker," Mrs Cole said. "I suppose you'd like to see him?"

"Very much."

Mrs Cole led Dumbledore out of her office and up the stone stairs, calling out instructions and admonitions to helpers and children as she passed. The orphans, Elizabeth saw, were all wearing the same kind of greyish tunic. They looked reasonably well-cared-for, but there was no denying that this was a grim place in which to grow up. And to think, that if Dumbledore hadn't let her stay with the Grangers or another wizarding family, she'd have been brought up in a place like this.

"Here we are," Mrs Cole said, as they turned off the second landing and stopped outside the first door in a long corridor. She knocked twice and entered. "Tom? You've got a visitor. This is Mr Dumberton - sorry, Dunderbore. He's come to tell you - well, I'll leave him to it."

Elizabeth and the two Dumbledores entered the room and Mrs Cole closed the door on them. It was a small bare room with nothing in it except an old wardrobe, a wooden chair and an iron bedstead. A boy was sitting on top of the greying blankets, his legs stretched out in front of him, holding a book. He looked up. There was no trace of the grotesque Gaunts in Tom Riddle's face. Merope had gotten her dying wish: he was his handsome father in miniature, tall for eleven years old, dark-haired and pale. His eyes narrowed slightly as he took in Dumbledore's eccentric appearance. There was a moment's silence.

"How do you do, Tom?" Dumbledore said, walking forwards and holding out his hand.

The boy hesitated, then took it, and they shook hands. Dumbledore drew up the hard wooden chair beside Riddle, so that the pair of them rather looked like a visitor and a hospital patient.

"I am Professor Dumbledore."

"'Professor'?" Riddle repeated, looking wary. "Is that like a doctor? What are you here for? Did she get you in here to have a look at me?"

"No, no," Dumbledore said, smiling.

"I don't believe you," Riddle said. "She wants me looked at, doesn't she? Tell the truth!"

He spoke the last three words with a ringing force that was almost shocking. It was a command, and it sounded as though he had given it many times before. His dark eyes had widened and he was glaring at Dumbledore, who made no response except to continue smiling pleasantly. After a few seconds, Riddle stopped glaring, though he looked, if anything, warier still.

"Who are you?"

"I have told you. My name is Professor Dumbledore and I work at a school called Hogwarts. I have come to offer you a place at my school - you new school, if you would like to come."

Riddle's reaction to this was most surprising; he lept from the bed and backed away from Dumbledore, looking furious. Elizabeth couldn't imagine what had made him think the things he said next, but the anger she was seeing, she had felt because of the scar that that boy had given her almost fifty years later.

"You can't kid me! The asylum, that's where you're from, isn't it? 'Professor', yes, of course - well, I'm not going see? That old cat's the one who should be in the asylum. I never did anything to little Amy Benson or Dennis Bishop, and you can ask them, they'll tell you!"

"I am not from the asylum," Dumbledore said patiently. "I am a teacher and, if you will sit down calmly, I shall tell you about Hogwarts. Of course, if you would rather not come to the school, nobody will force you-"

"I'd like to see them try," Riddle sneered.

"Hogwarts, is a school for people with special abilities-"

"I'm not mad!"

"I know that you are not mad. Hogwarts is not a school for mad people, it is a school of magic."

There was a silence. Riddle had frozen, his face just as expressive as Elizabeth's, but his eyes were flickering back and forth between each of Dumbledore's, as though trying to catch one of them lying.

"Magic?" he repeated in a whisper.

"That's right," Dumbledore said.

"It's... it's magic what I can do?"

"What is it you can do?"

"All sorts," the boy breathed, a flush of excitement rising up in his face. "I can make things move without touching them. I can make animals do what I want them to do, without training them. I can make bad things happen to people who annoy me. I can hurt them if I want to... I knew I was different. I knew I was special. Always, I knew there was something."

"Well, you were quite right," Dumbledore said, no longer smiling but watching Riddle intently. "You are a wizard."

Riddle lifted his head. Quite the opposite to the expression of anger he wore before, the boy's face was transfigured into wild happiness. But, for some reason, it did not make him better-looking; on the contrary, his finely carved features seemed somehow rougher, his expression almost bestial.

"Are you a wizard too?"

"Yes, I am."

"Prove it," Riddle said at once, in the same commanding voice he had said 'tell the truth'.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"If, as I take it, you are accepting a place at Hogwarts-"

"Of course I am!"

"Then you will address me as 'Professor' or 'sir'."

Riddle's expression hardened for the most fleeting moment before he said, in an unrecognisably polite voice, "I'm sorry, sir. I meant - please, Professor, could you show me?"

Elizabeth was quite sure that Dumbledore was going to refuse, that he would tell Tom Riddle there would be plenty of time for practical demonstrations at Hogwarts, that they were currently in a building full of Muggles, and must therefore be cautious. To her great surprise - not that it showed - Dumbledore drew his wand from an inside pocket of his suit jacket, pointed it at the shabby wardrobe in the corner and gave the wand a casual flick. Immediately, the wardrobe burst into flame. Riddle jumped to his feet. Elizabeth could hardly blame him for howling in shock and rage; all his worldly possessions must have been in there; but even as Riddle rounded on Dumbledore, the flames vanished and left the wardrobe completely undamaged. Riddle stared from the wardrobe to Dumbledore, then, his expression greedy, he pointed at the wand.

"Where can I get one of those?"

"All in good time," Dumbledore said. "I think there's something trying to get out of your wardrobe." And sure enough, a faint rattling could be heard from inside it. For the first time, Tom Riddle looked frightened. "Open the door."

Riddle hesitated, then crossed the room and threw open the wardrobe door. On the topmost shelf, above a rail of threadbare clothes, a small cardboard box was quivering as though there were several frantic mice trapped inside.

"Take it out." Dumbledore said. Riddle took the shaking box. He looked unnerved. "Is there anything in that box you ought not have?"

Riddle threw Dumbledore a long, clear, calculating look, and finally said, "Yes, I suppose so, sir."

"Open it."

Riddle took off the lid and tipped the contents onto his bed without looking at them. It seemed the boy was a real Magpie, as there was a mess of everyday objects laying on the grey bed; a yo-yo, a silver thimble and a tarnished mouth organ among them. Elizabeth tried to think why this was significant; if it wasn't, Dumbledore wouldn't have shown her.

"You will return them to their owners with your apologies," Dumbledore said calmly, putting his wand back into his jacket. "I shall know whether it has been done. And be warned: thieving is not tolerated at Hogwarts."

"Yes, sir," Riddle said coldly, quite unabashed.

"At Hogwarts," Dumbledore went on, "we teach you not only to use magic, but to control it. You have - inadvertently, I am sure - been using your powers in a way that is neither taught nor tolerated at our school. You are not the first, nor will you be the last, to allow your magic to run away with you. But you should know that Hogwarts can expel students, and the Ministry of Magic - yes, there is a Ministry - will punish lawbreakers still more severely. All new wizards must accept that, in entering our world, they abide by our laws."

"Yes, sir," Riddle said again.

It was difficult, but not impossible for Elizabeth to tell what the young Tom Riddle was thinking. Even though his face remained quite blank, she could tell that he wasn't very happy about having his use of magic restricted by laws and, most likely, by Dumbledore, the first wizard he ever met.

"I haven't got any money."

"That is easily remedied," Dumbledore said, pulling out a leather money-pouch from his pocket. "There is a fund at Hogwarts for those who require assistance to buy books and robes. You might have to buy some of your spellbooks and so on second-hand, but-"

"Where do you buy spellbooks?" Riddle asked, taking the heavy money bag without thanking Dumbledore and was now examining a Galleon.

"In Diagon Alley," Dumbledore said. "I have your list of books and school equipment with me. I can help you find everything-"

"I don't need you," Riddle said. "I'm used to doing things for myself, I go round London on my own all the time. How do you get to this Diagon Alley?"

Dumbledore explained how to get to the Leaky Cauldron from the orphanage then said, "Ask for Tom the barman - easy enough to remember as he shares your name-" Riddle gave an irritable twitch. "You dislike the name 'Tom'?"

"There are a lot of Toms," the boy muttered. Then, as though he could not suppress the question, as though it burst from him in spite of himself, he asked, "Was my father a wizard? He was called Tom Riddle too, they've told me."

"I'm afraid I don't know," Dumbledore said gently.

"My mother can't have been magic, or she wouldn't have died," Riddle said more to himself than to Dumbledore. "It must've been him. So - when I've got all my stuff - when do I come to this Hogwarts?"

"All the details are on the second piece of parchment in your envelope. You will leave from King's Cross Station on the first of September. There is a train ticket there too."

Riddle nodded, and they both got to their feet to shake hands.

"I can speak to snakes, too. I found out when we've been to the country on trips - they find me, they whisper to me. Is that normal for a wizard?"

Elizabeth could tell that Riddle had withheld mention of this strangest ability of his until that moment, determined to impress. Liz looked at the auburn-haired Dumbledore, and she could have sworn seeing a glint of fear in the man's eyes.

"It is unusual," he said after a moment's hesitation, "but not unheard of."

Then as Tom Riddle and the younger Albus Dumbledore parted ways, Elizabeth was once again swirling through darkness and moments later her feet touched the ground of Dumbledore's office. She sat down.

"He was so ready to believe it," Elizabeth contemplated, mind still full of what she'd just witnessed. "I was so ready to believe it as well."

"Yes, Riddle was perfectly ready to believe that he was - to use his word - 'special'," Dumbledore said.

"You didn't know, then, did you? That he was going to turn out the way he did?"

"No, but I was certainly intrigued by him. His powers, as you heard, were surprisingly well-developed for such a young wizard and - most interestingly and ominously of all-"

"He'd begun using them consciously," Elizabeth said quietly.

"Yes and, as you saw, he was already using magic against people, to frighten, to punish, to control."

"And he was a Parselmouth."

"Yes, indeed;" Dumbledore said. "a rare ability, and one supposedly connected with the Dark Arts, although, as we know, the are Parselmouths among the great and the good too... Time is making fools of us again," Dumbledore said, glancing at the darkened sky.

"Professor - when you mentioned Tom, his name, he twitched or something," Elizabeth recalled. "Was he already resenting things that made him ordinary? Tied him to Muggles and such?"

"Very good, Elizabeth." Dumbledore smiled. "And I am sure you also noticed that he was already self-sufficient, secretive and apparently friendless. You have or will most likely hear, during your time at Malfoy Manor, Death Eaters claiming to be in his confidence, that they are close to him, even understand him. They are deluded. Lord Voldemort has never had a friend, nor do I think he ever wanted one."

"Before I go, Professor, his magpie-like tendency... is that important?" Elizabeth asked.

"Very, but not now. Now, it is the time for you to get some rest." Dumbledore smiled. "Good night, Elizabeth."

"Good night, sir."


	107. Katie Bell's Curse

Elizabeth Evans was angry. For some odd reason, Draco had gotten it into his head that today was a great day to get detention with McGonagall. At first, Ella was just disappointed that she couldn't spend the first Hogsmeade trip of the year with her boyfriend but, while in an empty Common Room, she asked him why he'd gotten detention. Draco didn't usually avoid Liz's questions but this one was different apparently.

"Why the hell do you have detention, Draco? It's a simple enough question."

"Well, you know... stuff," came his less than satisfactory response.

"Wow, real precise, Draco," Elizabeth sighed, then pulled him closer to her as he began walking away. "Does this have to do with that stupid plan of yours?"

"Oh, you're very close aren't you?" the blonde smirked, his hands sneaking around Liz's waist.

"Draco Malfoy!"

"All right, all right! Yes, it's all got to do with my 'stupid plan'."

"You can't actually expect it to work, can you?" Elizabeth groaned, pulling away from her boyfriend and pacing in front of him. "Putting the Imperius Curse on Rosemerta, then having her put it on someone else to deliver that stupid necklace of yours is a recipe for disaster, Draco! If you'd only let me-"

"No," Draco said sternly, gaze suddenly cold. "There is no way you're getting near that necklace."

"Unless someone tore it from my grasp, that thing is wrapped up tight and can't touch me. It would be safer and more effective if I went and gave it to Dumbledore myself. Right now, you're risking the life of some innocent bystander!"

"I don't care at this point, Ella!" Draco shouted angrily, running a hand through his hair. "Do you know what He'll do to my family if I don't do this? Do you have any idea what He'll - what He'll do to you?" he added more calmly, voice cracking. "For God's sake, Elizabeth, if I have to risk someone else's life to keep you, I will."

Elizabeth smiled sadly at Draco. Every time she looked at him these days, it seemed she could see the emotional pain he was going through outside of his mind. It seeped out into his words and onto his skin. Elizabeth could try and understand what he was going through, but she couldn't. She didn't have a family You-Know-Who could threaten to kill, but seeing Draco like this was just as bad. It hurt to see him like this, and the only thing that made it better, was when he thought she was safe from harm. And so, with a small nod and an excruciatingly long embrace, Elizabeth had let Draco set off towards his detention with McGonagall, hoping that no one was caught in the cross-fire of his plan, because if someone did, both Draco and Liz would know that it could have been her.

The walk into Hogsmeade was not enjoyable. Not only because the thought of Draco's plan unfolding as she spoke was looming over her, but also because the temperature was not up to par. Elizabeth wrapped her scarf over the lower part of her face; the exposed part soon felt raw and numb. The road to the village was full of students bent double against the bitter wind. More than once Elizabeth wondered whether she should have stayed in the warmth of the Common Room, and when she finally reached Hogsmeade and saw that Zonko's Joke Shop had been boarded up, she took it as confirmation that this trip was not destined to be fun. Instead, she went inside Honeydukes, which was mercifully open.

"Thank God," she whispered to herself.

"I don't think God has anything to do with this weather, Evans," a voice said from behind.

"Creeping up on girls, now, Zabini?" Liz joked, as she turned to see her fellow Slytherin, Blaise Zabini.

"Shut up," he sighed. "Hey, where's your better half?"

"Detention with McGonagall, of course."

"Obviously. Look, I just saw Slughorn over by the crystallised pineapple, can we go off to the Three Broomsticks and avoid him?"

"With pleasure."

They bundled up their scarves back over their faces and left the sweet shop. The bitter wind was like knives on the uncovered parts of their faces after the sugary warmth of Honeydukes. The street was not very busy; nobody was lingering to chat, just hurrying towards their destinations. Inside the Three Broomsticks, Elizabeth was able to take off her scarf and her hat after she sat down at a table. Blaise came over moments later with two bottles of Butterbeer.

The moment they'd drained the last bits of their drinks, Elizabeth and Zabini thought it wise to head back to the castle and stay warm; it had not been a fun trip and the weather was getting worse the longer they stayed. Once again they drew their coats tightly around them, rearranged their scarves, pulled on their hats, then followed a few people out of the warmth of the pub and back up the high street. Elizabeth could see three familiar heads walking ahead, and decided to slow down - without Zabini noticing - so she could avoid them. However, it seemed unavoidable that they'd meet since the trio seemed to be walking slower and slower as they followed two girls a little way ahead of them.

At once, one of them rose into the air, gracefully, her arms outstretched, as though she were about to fly. Elizabeth, immediately filled with dread, knew at once that Draco's plan hadn't succeeded in the slightest. There was something wrong, something eerie... her hair was whipped around her by the fierce wind, but as she and Blaise got closer, Liz could see that the girl's eyes were closed and her face quite empty of expression. Everyone stopped moving, watching, but Elizabeth just wanted to run. She wanted to run away from what she said was going to happen, yet her feet were solidly anchored to the ground. Then, six feet above the ground, the girl let out a terrible scream. Her eyes flew open but whatever she could see, or whatever she was feeling was clearly causing her terrible pain. She screamed and screamed; the other girl started to scream too, and seized the floating girls' ankles, trying to tug her back down to the ground. Then, as Harry, Ron and Hermione ran forward, she fell on top of them; Harry and Ron had managed to catch her, but she was writing so much they could hardly hold her. Instead, they lowered her to the ground where she thrashed and screamed in pain.

"Zabini, let's go," Elizabeth said, staring at the pained girl.

"Why? Don't you want to see what's going on?" the boy replied.

"No, not really."

Zabini made no sign that he was going to move. Elizabeth glanced one last time at the girl thrashing on the ground before swiftly gliding away from the scene. She'd have to take the long way back, but it was better than staring at the product of a deadly mistake that you could have prevented. At least, Elizabeth told herself, Harry, Hermione and Ron hadn't seen her watching the scene unfolding; she was sure that her brother would have taken the time to accuse her and Draco. He would have been correct, but as long as she didn't hear it, it didn't have to affect her.

The warmth of the castle engulfed her as she entered the front doors, and her cheeks, frozen by the icy wind, reddened as they began to thaw. Just then, McGonagall came rushing past her, emerald green robes billowing behind her. Elizabeth sighed; she was going to see the girl who'd been cursed. It was all her fault. If she just had been more persistent with Draco, she could have delivered the package herself. Instead, someone's life was in danger.

Elizabeth ripped off her scarf and her hat, the only sign that she was feeling more than what she was expressing, and entered the Great Hall for supper: tea. The lack of hunger had returned and Draco noticed when he sat down next to her, having been relieved from his detention for obvious reasons.

"You're not eating?" Elizabeth shook her head. "What's wrong?"

"Your plan is what's wrong."

"Oh, not that again. Ella, I told you: you're not going near that thing," Draco sighed.

"And I told you that you're going to hurt an innocent person," Elizabeth said flatly.

"What?" Malfoy's eyes suddenly went wide.

"I don't think she touched the necklace enough for it to kill her, but she's definitely cursed."

The dinner roll that Draco had taken went flying across the Great Hall and hit a Hufflepuff in the back of the head. Cursing under his breath Malfoy rose from his seat and stormed off, leaving Elizabeth to apologize on his behalf and as she followed him out of the Hall and down to the Dungeons. She called after him as he stormed past the few Slytherins that were on their way to the dinner that Elizabeth and Draco had just ran from, but he ignored her and went up to the boys' dormitories. He slammed the door to his room.

"Draco Malfoy, get your arse back here!" Elizabeth called, as she walked down the hall of the boys' dorms.

"What're you doing here, Miss?" a seventh year said, blocking her passage.

"None of your business, now get out of my way." He didn't move. "Or else."

"Oh, famous Evans thinks she's all that, does she?"

"I don't. But I will make you move if I have to," Liz said calmly. "Now, if you'll excuse me-"

"Who says you're allowed to go down there?" the seventh year said.

"Me." She took out her wand and pointed at his chest. "Move."

"Go ahead, if you da-"

"Everte Statum."

At once, the seventh year flew back to the end of the hall in a crumpled heap. Elizabeth shook her head, annoyed, and pocketed her wand before walking to Draco's dorm and knocking on the door. The seventh year at the end of the hall groaned, but didn't move.

"Draco? Come on, let me in."

"Go away," she heard Draco's muffled voice say through the door. "I don't need you telling me that you were right."

Elizabeth let out a quiet laugh, "Come on, you idiot... I don't want to have to force my way in."

After a few seconds, the door unlocked and opened about an inch. Elizabeth pushed the door open against the tide of objects that littered the floor on the other side. Boys, she thought, exasperated. She picked her way across the room on tiptoe, trying not to stand on anyone's coursework which was mixed up with several pairs of underpants, dirty t-shirts and several library books, until she reached Draco's side of the room, which was near spotless.

He was sitting on the other side of his four-poster, head in his hands. Elizabeth threw her coat onto a nearby chair and took off her boots before sitting to Draco's right. She gently ran her left hand up and down his back in a comforting manner until he looked up at her.

"You don't have to do this, Draco," Ella said quietly.

"I don't have a choice," Malfoy replied. "He'll kill me; He'll kill you."

"I can take care of myself, Love. You don't need to worry-"

"No, but I do anyway. It's my fault you're in this; if only I hadn't been so stupid-"

"Draco, if you'd refused He would have killed you on the spot," Elizabeth reasoned. "Besides, I got myself into this predicament and I'm going to get myself out."

"No," Draco said. "No, I have to do it. I can't let you kill someone!"

"Draco, I already have."


	108. Spread the Cheer Or the Threats?

_"Draco, I already have."_

The sentence seemed to echo around the room like a falling drop of water in Snape's office. The lake's current flowed across the window, sending the occasional debris or piece of seaweed their way. The chandelier's flames flickered, begging the few fish that had gathered in the depths beside the window to crash into it, curious about the strange glow they couldn't reach. Footsteps and groaning were heard in the hall - the seventh year was no longer unconscious.

Draco and Elizabeth simply stared at each other for what seemed like decades, both thinking different things - a lot of things. Draco was thinking about what he could do to convince his girlfriend that she should walk away from this, to never go back to Malfoy Manor and deal with You-Know-Who ever again, to not complete the tasks he had asked her to perform. He wanted to keep her safe, keep her alive, but what was he supposed to do when Elizabeth was too damn stubborn to understand that? Meanwhile, Elizabeth didn't want Draco to be a murderer. She didn't want her boyfriend to live with the burden of killing someone innocent, the burden of killing the great Albus Dumbledore. Sure he planned this, but the man had asked her to do it for a reason, right? Elizabeth had already killed someone, what was another death added to her resume?

"What's another death by my hand?"

"You don't mean that. You're not really indifferent to killing Dumbledore, are you?"

"No, I'm not. But I've already hurt someone... you haven't. And I don't want you to live with this for the rest of your life."

"I don't wan that for you either!" Draco sighed. "Yes, you've killed someone, but this is completely different. I may not like Dumbledore, but he's done nothing to deserve this! Anyway, besides having done this before, what makes you so qualified for the job?"

Elizabeth longed to tell him. She longed to tell Draco about Dumbledore's plan, about her true mission and her loyalty to Albus Dumbledore - to stop lying to the one she so desperately loved... but she couldn't. It wasn't part of Dumbledore or Snape's instructions, besides, it was safer for Draco if he didn't know that she was betraying Voldemort; he wouldn't try to Crucio the truth out of him. Liz banished the thought of her boyfriend writhing on the ground, screaming in agony.

"This has nothing to do with who's qualified and who's not, Draco," Ella sighed, lying back on the bed. "I just think that I should be the one to do it since I've done it before. Because if someone has to go to Azkaban, I want it to be me and not you since you've never laid a wand on anyone."

Draco remained quiet for a few seconds then spoke, sheepish, "I guess this is a bad time to tell you about the bottle of mead that was sent to Dumbledore and given to Slughorn, right?"

"GOD DAMMIT, DRACO!"

Elizabeth sat up at once and dashed out of the room, her boyfriend hot on her heels. The seventh year from before moved out of her way immediately when she stormed passed him telling his friends about what she had done. Liz walked across the Common Room and went down the hall to the girls' dormitories, loosing Draco at the charms that prevented him from following her.

Slughorn was having yet another party which Elizabeth had managed to avoid - she was still being invited despite her revelation about Travers' murder for he seemed to be proud of her for getting rid of a Death Eater. Zabini hadn't been lucky and had to go, deciding on Parkinson as his plus one, but he told Liz that if she came he'd ditch Pansy. She definitely wouldn't be happy with Ella after tonight.

Changed into a dress that wouldn't reveal her Dark Mark and her shoes clasped tightly around her ankles, Elizabeth walked back out of her room trying to clasp one of her pearl earrings on. Draco and a few other boys looked after her and wolf-whistled as she weaved her way through the small crowd and exited the Common Room, Slughorn's invitation between her brilliantly white teeth. She reached Blaise a few meters away and shoved Pansy out of the way, dragging the boy away by the wrist.

"What the hell, Evans!?" Zabini called as he and Elizabeth turned a corner, leaving an angry Pansy behind.

"Shut up, Zabini," Elizabeth said, removing the invitation from her mouth, "just be glad Parkinson isn't there to make things worse."

"You've got a point." He looked at the girl up and down. "You look surprisingly nice."

"Thanks, I'll never wear this again."

The dark-skinned boy chuckled and rolled his eyes, still being dragged away nearer Slughorn's rooms - the sounds of laughter, music, and loud conversation were growing louder with every step they took. The two showed their invitations to a particularly grumpy ghost and they were allowed to enter the office which, whether it had been built that way, or because he had used magical trickery to make it so, was much larger than the usual teacher's study. The ceiling and walls had been draped with emerald, crimson, and gold hangings, so that it looked as though they were all inside a huge gypsy tent. The room was crowded and stuffy and bathed in the red light cast by an ornate golden lamp dangling from the center of the ceiling in which real fairies were fluttering, each a brilliant speck of light. Loud singing accompanied by what sounded like mandolins came from a distant corner; a haze of pipe smoke hung over several elderly warlocks deep in conversation, and a number of house-elves were negotiating their way squeakily through the forest of knees, obscured by the heavy silver platters of food they were bearing, so that they looked like little roving tables.

"Elizabeth, my dear! I didn't think you'd come!" Slughorn called as she and Blaise barely squeezed through the crowd. "Come in, come in! There are so many people I want you to meet!"

It seemed that Slughorn was unaware that Zabini had walked in as well, as he gripped Elizabeth's arm so tightly he might have been hoping to Disapparate with her and led the girl purposefully into the party; Elizabeth seized Blaise's hand and dragged him along with her.

"Elizabeth, I'd like you to meet Eldred Worple, an old student of mine, author of Blood Brothers: My Life Amongst the Vampires - and, of course, his friend Sanguini."

Worple, who was a small, stout, bespectacled man, grabbed Liz's hand and shook it enthusiastically; the vampire Sanguini, who was tall and emaciated with dark shadows under his eyes, merely nodded. He looked rather bored. A gaggle of girls was standing close to him, looking curious and excited.

"Elizabeth Evans, I am simply delighted!" Worple said, peering up into the girl's face - he was rather shorter than her. "I was saying to Professor Slughorn only the other day, 'Where is the biography of Harry Potter and Elizabeth Evans for which we have all been waiting?'"

"I haven't ever considered a biography. I do enjoy my private life, after all," Elizabeth said flatly. "As for my brother, I'm sure he wouldn't mind having his ego inflated a little more."

"Just as confident and snarky as Horace described!" Worple said. "But seriously," - his manner changed; it became suddenly businesslike, "I would be delighted to write it myself - people are craving to know more about you, dear girl, craving! If you were prepared to grant me a few interviews, say in four or five hour sessions, why, we could have the book finished within months. And all with very little effort on your part, I assure you - ask Sanguini here if it isn't quite - Sanguini, stay here!" Worple added, suddenly stern, for the vampire had been edging toward the nearby group of girls, a rather hungry look in his eye. "Here, have a pasty," Worple said, seizing one from a passing elf and stuffing it into Sanguini's hand before turning his attention back to Harry. "My dear girl, the gold you could make, you have no idea-"

"I am definitely not interested, in any sort of biography," Liz said sternly. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've just seen a friend of mine. But Blaise Zabini here would love to speak about his mother. Good evening."

Elizabeth left her spot and Zabini, and weaved through the crowd of people. She had indeed just seen a long mane of brown hair disappear between what looked like two members of the Weird Sisters. Hermione was there, seemingly trying to avoid someone or something - a head of wild black hair was following her. Elizabeth picked up the pace and slammed her hand on the stranger's person and turned them around.

"Oh, it's just you," Ella said snidely, removing her hand from Harry's shoulder.

"What're you doing here?" the boy glared.

"Going to see Hermione, as were you I suppose."

"Me too!" said a dreamy voice.

"Oh, hey Luna!"

The boy nodded in Hermione's direction and the three wordlessly caught up with Hermione. She looked distinctly disheveled, almost as though she'd just fought her way out of a thicket of Devil's Snare.

"Harry! Liz! There you are, thank goodness! Hi, Luna!"

"What's happened to you?" Harry asked, purposely standing in a way to block his sister from his view.

"Oh, I've just escaped - I mean, I've just left Cormac," she said. "Under the mistletoe," she added in explanation, as Harry continued to look questioningly at her.

"Serves you right for coming with him," Elizabeth told her severely.

"I thought he'd annoy Ron most," Hermione said dispassionately. "I debated for a while about Zacharias Smith, but I thought, on the whole-"

"You considered Smith!? He's a prick! Liz said, revolted.

"Yes, I know, but I'm starting to wish I'd chosen him; McLaggen makes Grawp look a gentleman. Let's go this way, we'll be able to see him coming, he's so tall..."

The four of them made their way over to the other side of the room, scooping up goblets of mead on the way, realizing too late that Professor Trelawney was standing there alone. Luna politely said hello and entered in conversation, but she seemed to tipsy to notice that the other three were there as well.

"Let's get something straight. Are you planning to tell Ron that you interfered at Keeper tryouts?" Harry asked.

"You interfered with Quidditch tryouts?" Elizabeth asked, dumbfounded. "Bloody hell, Hermione, these boys are a bad influence on you."

Hermione raised her eyebrows and ignored Liz's remark, "Do you really think I'd stoop that low?"

Both siblings looked at her shrewdly.

"If you can ask McLaggen out-"

"There's a difference," Hermione said with dignity, "I've got no plans to tell Ron anything about what might, or might not, have happened at Keeper tryouts."

"Good," Harry said fervently. "Because he'll just fall apart again, and we'll lose the next match-"

"Quidditch!" Hermione and Elizabeth said angrily. "Is that all boys care about?" Hermione continued. "Cormac hasn't asked me one single question about myself, no, I've just been treated to 'A Hundred Great Saves Made by Cormac McLaggen' nonstop ever since - oh no, here he comes!"

She moved so fast it was as though she had Disapparated; one moment she was there, the next, she had squeezed between two guffawing witches and vanished.

"Seen Hermione?" McLaggen asked Harry, forcing his way through a minute later.

"No, sorry," he replied and turned quickly to Luna and Trelawney.

Cormac's gaze landed on Elizabeth.

"Well, hello, beautiful..."

"Really?" Liz said impatiently. "You're here with a girl and you hit on another... who happens to have a boyfriend? For fuck's sake, McLaggen, get your shit together."

She too turned to Luna, Harry and Trelawney, forgetting for a split second who she was actually turning to. Elizabeth had no problems talking to Luna, but Harry and the divination lunatic were completely different stories.

"Harry Potter and Elizabeth Evans!" Professor Trelawney said in deep, vibrant tones, noticing them for the first time.

"Oh, hello," Ella said unenthusiastically.

"My dear children!" she said in a very carrying whisper. "The rumors! The stories! 'The Chosen Ones'! Of course, I have known for a very long time... The omens were never good... But why have you not taken Divination? For you two, of all people, the subject is of the utmost importance!"

"Ah, Sybill, we all think our subject's most important!" said a loud voice, and Slughorn appeared at Professor Trelawney's other side, his face very red, his velvet hat a little askew, a glass of mead in one hand and an enormous mince pie in the other. Elizabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes right in front of him.

"But I don't think I've ever known such naturals at Potions!" Slughorn said, regarding the siblings with a fond, if bloodshot, eye. "Instinctive, you know - like their mother! I've only ever taught a few with this kind of ability, I can tell you that, Sybill - why even Severus-" And to Harry's horror and Elizabeth's surprise, Slughorn threw out an arm and seemed to scoop Snape out of thin air toward them. "Stop skulking and come and join us, Severus!" hiccuped Slughorn happily. It seemed that Snape, too, was resisting the urge to roll his eyes. "I was just talking about Harry and Elizabeth's exceptional potion-making! Some credit must go to you, of course, you taught them for five years!"

Trapped, with Slughorn's arm around his shoulders, Snape looked down his hooked nose at Harry, his black eyes narrowed, then at Elizabeth, almost proudly.

"Miss Evans has always been a talent at potions, but it's funny, I never had the impression that I managed to teach Potter anything at all," Snape said.

"Well, then, like his sister, it's natural ability!" shouted Slughorn. "You should have seen what they gave me, first lesson, Draught of Living Death - never had students produce finer on a first attempt, I don't think even you, Severus."

"Really?" Snape said quietly, his eyes snapping from Harry to Elizabeth for a second, who looked as if she hadn't seen him do it. "Remind me what other subjects you're taking, Elizabeth?" Slughorn asked.

"Potions, of course, Defence Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, Charms and Transfiguration."

"And Harry?"

"The same ones."

"All the subjects required, in short, for an Auror," said Snape, with the faintest sneer, still gazing at Harry.

"Yeah, well, that's what I'd like to do," the boy said defiantly.

"And a great one you'll make too!" Slughorn boomed. "And you my dear? Surely you'd want to be an Auror as well."

"Not at all," Liz said flatly, her demeanor conveying pure indifference. "I'd like to replace you and take your place as Potions master."

"Dear me! Quite ambitious-"

Elizabeth didn't hear the rest of the sentence as she spotted a blond head of hair rapidly making its way towards her. Soon enough, Argus Filch came stumbling about, dragging Draco with him by the ear. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and swatted Filch away, linking her arm with her boyfriend's.

"Oi! He was lurking he was!" Filch wheezed. "Claims to have been invited to your party and delayed setting out. Did you issue him with an invitation?"

"All right, I wasn't invited!" Draco said angrily. "I was trying to gate crash, happy?"

"No, I'm not." Filch said, a statement that contradicted the look of glee on his face. "You're in trouble, you are! Didn't the headmaster say that nighttime prowling's out, unless you've got permission, didn't he, eh?"

"That's all right, Argus, that's all right," Slughorn said, waving a hand. "It's Christmas time, and it's not a crime to want to come to a party. Just this once, we'll forget any punishment; you may stay, Draco."

Filch's expression of outraged disappointment was perfectly predictable; but every other expression wasn't, especially to Harry who seemed to be examining her, Draco and Snape with a critical eye. Malfoy looked almost equally unhappy to hear that he could stay, but insisted that he was grateful and began talking about his grandfather Abraxas. Harry looked at Snape who was gazing at the young blond both seemingly angry and, possibly, afraid. Then there was Elizabeth, who, unlike Harry was used to, stayed stoic, though in the inside she was just as angry and scared for Draco as Snape probably was.

"I'd like a word with you, Draco, Elizabeth" said Snape suddenly - Liz was surprised to hear him say her name in front of so many people.

"Oh, now, Severus," Slughorn said, hiccuping again, "it's almost Christmas, don't be too hard-"

"I'm their Head of House, and I shall decide how hard, or otherwise, to be," Snape said curtly. "Follow me, you two."

Both followed, Malfoy looked resentful and Elizabeth feeling nervous. It was certain, to her, that her brother would find some way of eavesdropping of whatever Snape had to tell them, which could not be good judging by the look on the man's face; he looked particularly angry, more so than usual. He lead them into a classroom and immediately began speaking.

"Elizabeth, how far along are you on your task?"

"I'm working on it," the girl said impatiently. "Look, I can't find the damn spell to fix the damn cabinet."

"Harmonia Nectere Passus. I've sent a book to you by owl, you shall receive it tomorrow morning," Snape said curtly.

Elizabeth nodded gratefully as the man turned to Draco and began questioning him about the events that put Katie Bell in St Mungo's. She could have sworn she heard something outside the locked classroom door. She hoped it wasn't Harry.

"... cannot afford to make mistakes, Draco, because if you two are expelled-"

"We didn't have anything to do with it, all right?"

"I hope you are telling the truth, because it was both clumsy and foolish. Already you are suspected of having a hand in it,' Snape said, irritated.

"Who suspects us?" Malfoy said angrily. "For the last time we didn't do it, okay? That Bell girl must have had an enemy no one knows about - don't look at me like that, I know what you're doing. I'm not stupid, it won't work - I can stop you. We can both stop you."

"Ah..." Snape said quietly, looking between the two students. "Aunt Bellatrix has been teaching you two Occlumency amongst other things, I see. What thoughts are you trying to conceal from your master?"

"We're not trying to conceal anything from Him, I just don't want you butting in!"

"So that is why you have been avoiding me this term?" Elizabeth looked oddly between the two. Draco dismissed her looks. "You have feared my interference? You realize that, had anybody else failed to come to my office when I had told them repeatedly to be there, Draco-"

"So put me in detention! Report me to Dumbledore!" Malfoy jeered.

There was another pause. Then Snape said, "You know perfectly well that I do not wish to do either of those things."

"You'd better stop telling me to come to your office then! Ask Elizabeth, to go for me instead!"

"Listen to me," said Snape, his voice so low now that Liz could barely hear him standing right next to the man. "I am trying to help you. I swore to your mother I would protect you. I made the Unbreakable Vow, Draco-"

"You did what!?" Elizabeth gasped.

This made no sense. Snape was on Dumbledore's orders. Surely he realised that by making the Unbreakable Vow he'd have to protect Draco at all costs. Did this mean he would have to kill Dumbledore instead of Draco? Did this mean that Elizabwth was free from the burden of killing Dumbledore? Or was this all a show and he'd call her to his office the following evening to tell her that she'd have to murder Albus Dumbledore after all?

"Looks like you'll have to break it, then, because we don't need your protection! It's our job, he gave it to us and we're doing it. We've got a plan and it's going to work."

"What is your plan?"

"It's none of your business!"

"Draco, he could help," Liz said softly, intertwining her fingers with Draco's. "Come on, you're being childish."

"If you tell me what you are trying to do, I can assist you-"

"I've got all the assistance I need, thanks, I'm not alone!" Draco said angrily.

"You were certainly alone tonight, which was foolish in the extreme, wandering the corridors without lookouts or backup, these are elementary mistakes-"

"I would've had Ella with me had she not gone to that stupid party - I was going to get her!" the boy added as Snape began to argue. "And I would have had Crabbe and Goyle with me if you hadn't put them in detention!"

"Keep your voice down!" Snape spat, for Draco's voice had risen excitedly. "If your friends Crabbe and Goyle intend to pass their Defense Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. this time around, they will need to work a little harder than they are doing at present-"

"What does it matter?" said Malfoy. "Defense Against the Dark Arts - it's all just a joke, isn't it, an act? Like any of us need protecting against the Dark Arts-"

Elizabeth's heart gave a painful twang. If she could only tell him that Snape wasn't on Voldemort's side, if she could only tell him that all of it was a lie and that she too wasn't faithful to the Dark Lord. Mind you, these days, even Draco didn't have much faith in the man.

"It is an act that is crucial to success, Draco!" Snape argued. "Where do you think I would have been all these years, if I had not known how to act? Now listen to me! You are being incautious, wandering around at night, getting yourself caught, and if you are placing your reliance in assistants like Crabbe and Goyle-"

"They're not the only ones, I've got other people on my side, better people! I've got Ella!"

"Then why not confide in me, and I can-"

"I know what you're up to! You want to steal my glory!"

There was another pause in which Elizabeth sighed.

"Elizabeth is right, you are speaking like a child. I quite understand that your father's capture and imprisonment has upset you, but-"

It was no use; Snape words fell upon deaf ears. Draco stormed out of the classroom, down the corridor and back to the Common Room, where Elizabeth suspected he was off to sulk in his dormitory. Elizabeth sent one last look at Snape who nodded softly, taking this as a signal that she wanted to be alone which she did. Slowly, Snape emerged from the classroom and disappeared back into the party in which he wanted no part of. A few seconds later, Liz also walked out and closed the classroom door and bending down to grope at what seemed like thin air, but her hand grasped something soft and pulled away. Harry was crouching down, but rapidly stood up, glaring down at his sister.

"What was Snape offering to help you with?" he asked, almost in a growl.

"None of your business," Elizabeth replied coldly.

"Show me your arm, Elizabeth."

"No."

"Are you a Death Eater?" Harry asked angrily.

"Piss off, Potter," Liz said the name as if it were cancerous.

"You shouldn't hate the name, you're a Potte-"

"I am not related to that poor excuse of a man you call a father! I am not related to a man who bullied first years and my Head of House just because he was different - even worse - just for fun. I am related to Lily Evans, an uncommonly kind woman who accepted everyone for who they were and never let any bad comment affect her." Elizabeth took a threatening step forward. "Now, you listen to me, Potter. Stay out of my way, mind your own business and trust me when I say that it isn't Snape you should be worrying about."


	109. Christmas Memories

"Come on, put your back into it, girl!"

"I'm only supposed to wave my wrist, woman! We're not fist-fighting!"

"Maybe we should be!"

"Then I'd definitely be winning - you can't do shit with nails that long!"

Christmas at Hogwarts was impossible this year. Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy insisted that their son (and his girlfriend) come to Malfoy Manor to spend the holidays, much to both teenagers' disappointment. Neither of them much wanted to spend time opening gifts and kissing underneath the mistletoe with Lord Voldemort lurking in the corner of the room. Thankfully, however, when they exited King's Cross station and apparated to the Manor with Draco's parents, the Dark Lord was nowhere to be found. Whether he was hiding out in the Manor, avoiding the Christmas cheer (or lack thereof), or off somewhere in Albania looking for something to make him more powerful no one knew, but they didn't actually care. Except for Bellatrix Lestrange, who seemed to be taking out her frustration on Elizabeth ever since she'd gotten back from school.

Elizabeth barely had any time to herself or to breathe. Since she was officially seventeen (because she now knew her real age and told everyone this), Bellatrix was drilling her with offensive spells that she and other Death Eaters used. Liz had even been initiated to the curse that Antonin Dolohov had used on Hermione during the battle of the Department of Mysteries; the battle in which her best friend died. Of course, Bellatrix and Elizabeth hadn't used it on each other since the Dark Lord wanted them both alive, but they'd used it on a few Muggles that Bellatrix had so graciously provided. So far, only two out of five survived it.

Like on the occasions where Voldemort called an assembly, all the furniture in the drawing room had been pushed to the walls so to leave room for both witches to practise. A few other Death Eaters that remained posted at Malfoy Manor had gathered to watch and laugh at Elizabeth who was having trouble with the incredibly dark spells that Bellatrix was trying to teach her. Draco and his parents were nowhere to be found of course, most likely trying to spend the least amount of time with the people they'd come to realise were not their friends.

"Do I have to bring more Muggle filth in here to show you? Or can you figure this out?" Bellatrix said irritably, leaning lazily on the wall and keeping an eye on Elizabeth.

"No, we're good. The least amount of time I have to be in their presence, the better," Elizabeth growled, pointing her wand at the mannequin standing in front of her. It was quite damaged: a few fingers, an arm and chunks of leg were missing from its plastic body. "Can't I just use it on one of them - I hate it when they laugh at me," she continued, waving her free hand at the gathered masked Death Eaters. "It's not like they need their fingers or anything."

"Oi! Listen 'ere, Missy-"

"Shut up!" Bellatrix said, silencing him with a wave of her wand. She turned to Liz, an expression of psychotic eagerness on her face. "My dear, Elizabeth! Oh, I quite love the way you think! You can practise that severing curse of yours, Merlin knows how effective it was on Travers!" She looked over at the gathered Death Eaters and smiled evilly. "Well, then, who wants to go first?"

"Madam Lestrange... you can't be serious?" one of the Death Eaters said.

"Don't fret," Elizabeth said indifferently, "I have the counter-curse. However, it is my decision whether to use it or not since, well, no one else here knows it."

"You wouldn't! I mean - you - you couldn't - I'm a follower - I-"

A silent wave of her wand allowed Elizabeth to toy with a man's life. A jet of pure white light soared from the tip of the girl's dark wand and hit the masked Death Eater square in the chest. Instantly, blood spurted from the man's black robes and he fell backwards, almost in slow motion, almost exactly like the manner in which she had killed Travers at the Ministry. Bellatrix let out a shriek of laughter and launched herself at Elizabeth, embracing her in yet another bone crushing hug - she did this every time Elizabeth proved to her she could hurt someone intentionally. Strangely enough, Bellatrix had become quite fond of the seventeen year old witch despite her initial reluctance of her.

"Beautiful! Wonderful - oh, Lizzie, you took the words straight out of his mouth!"

"I daresay I did," Elizabeth said in a slightly amused tone. "I should probably heal the poor idiot."

"No, no, let's just watch for a bit!"

Bellatrix grabbed Elizabeth pale, thin hand and dragged her forwards until they were both hovering over the bleeding Death Eater - the others standing around didn't dare move in case they were next. Bellatrix regarded the bleeding man with an expression far from pity or remorse - she was probably as happy as ever seeing a man bleeding to death. Elizabeth didn't look much different. As per usual, her exterior was as calm, collected and expressive as a rock. Her eyes didn't hold the gleam that Draco loved so much, instead they were cold and emotionless, and as dark as the Black Sea. Those eyes watched the Death Eater, his hood long off his head, as he choked and coughed up blood, watched his scared eyes, watched the scarlet liquid pour out of his wounds until she practically felt nauseous.

"Bellatrix, as much as I know he deserves this, can't I just heal him? I mean, he's staining the floor, for Merlin's sake."

"Oh, the poor marble floors!" the woman gasped "Cissy, won't be happy! Yes, yes, get rid of all this."

It was highly disturbing that the woman cared more about the marble floors than the man's life, but Elizabeth didn't dwell on those kinds of things any longer. Instead, she knelt over the bleeding man and traced her wand over the wounds, muttering an incantation that sounded almost like a song. The blood began retreating back into the man's body until the flow entirely stopped. Elizabeth repeated the spell and the wounds were now knitting together. The Death Eater would have multiple scars since she hadn't applied Dittany, but at least he would live. Unlike the Muggle she had assaulted yesterday.

The practise went on well passed lunch and supper, and when Bellatrix had finally let her off the hook, she didn't even go to the kitchen to get food, too nauseated at what she'd done to eat. Instead, she went to her room then the adjoining bathroom and looked at her reflection. She barely had time to look at the girl she had become - she lurched forward and vomited bile into the sink. Her throat burned from the acidic contents of her stomach. Elizabeth wiped the back of her hand across her lips and washed her hands, sending the bile down the drain. She looked up at herself again. Her once porcelain skin had greyed, sallowed and paled considerably, if that was even possible. Her eyes were dull and her hair fell limply on her shoulders, its silkiness long gone. Dark circles under her eyes reflected all the sleep she had been missing. Her thin almost bony frame reflected how much she hadn't been able to eat. Elizabeth might have been an amazing Occlumens, able to hide her darkest and most banal thoughts from everyone, but what she was doing to herself physically was obvious enough.

What had she become? Was this truly who she was now; a Death Eater? A Muggle killer? Someone who cared not for the lives of others, who toyed with them as if she were playing with the lives of Barbie dolls? She'd become nearly senseless. That's what she had to do to make her job bearable, to keep her sane. Sanity. What was sanity? Elizabeth didn't know anymore. The fine line she had been walking, the line between undercover work and true madness was long gone. She'd fallen on the wrong side of the bed. Injuring, torturing, killing; it was all the same to her now. Elizabeth didn't care about hurting people anymore. At least that's what she thought. But what she was doing to herself: starving herself, staying awake despite her obvious tiredness, vomiting the food she never ate - it was proof enough to know that she did care. Dumbledore would be proud.

Dumbledore. What a fucking idiot. He said that she was capable of this, that she was able to overcome all the obstacles and... and murder him. Fuck him. She'd been telling Draco for weeks now that he couldn't do it, that she should kill the Headmaster instead, but did she have the guts to do it? Probably. Did she want to do it? Not at all. Would she be able to do it when the time came? Most likely not. How could he expect so much of a seventeen year old girl? Elizabeth would take Harry's task of dying in heartbeat over the job or torturing, killing and sitting beside the Dark Lord at dinner time. He disgusted her. She was repulsed by his touch, by his presence, by the mere thought of him.

Elizabeth lurched forward again, this time vomiting more acidic bile into the toilet beside the sink as she fell to her knees, weak from lack of food. Her throat burned again. The smell reached her nostrils and made her lurch again, bent over the bowl. Tears prickled at her eyes. She hated vomiting - it was the worst feeling in the world for her, worse than sending the Cruciatus curse at someone. Her muscles contracted again as she lurched one last time. Panting, she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and sent the bile down the drain. Elizabeth stood and brushed her teeth, avoiding looking at her own reflection in fear that she'd throw up again. She tugged off her shirt, also avoiding the Dark Mark on her left arm, and threw it on a nearby chair before tugging off her trousers and throwing them in the same direction. She was about to unclasp her bra when someone cleared their throat.

"As much as I'd enjoy seeing you nude, I don't think this is the right time."

Elizabeth sighed and threw on an oversized t-shirt, then expertly removed her bra from underneath it. She threw it somewhere in the room without looking, "What do you want, Draco?"

"I haven't seen you all day. I missed you," he said, a sad smile tugging at his lips.

"Cute," the girl said flatly, and climbed into bed. "If you don't mind, I want to sleep."

"You feeling all right?"

"If puking my guts out counts as all right, then, yeah, I'm great."

Elizabeth pulled the silk blankets closer to her and sighed as she laid her head on the pillow. Moments later, Draco was climbing into bed, his shirt and trousers thrown haphasardly in the same direction as Elizabeth's clothing. He threw the blankets over himself and scooted closer to his girlfriend, laying his head on her chest to hear her heartbeat. His arms snaked around her middle and Ella's fingers began playing with the blond's hair.

"We'll get through this, Ella. We'll be okay."

"I hope so, Draco... I hope so."

And soon, they'd both fallen asleep.

* * *

Elizabeth could now only dream of the Christmases she had as a child: her and Hermione eagerly waiting for the too-tall Christmas tree to be set up in a corner of the living room, scraping off bits and pieces of the horrible popcorn-ceiling as Mr Granger attempted to put up the star at the top of it; them awaiting the signal to cover the green tree with tinsel snakes and loosed bits of it that got caught in Hermione's hair, the fake icicles that Elizabeth hung all over the house and in the darnest of places, and the rainbow fairy lights that Mrs Granger twirled around the tree and Mr Granger hung outside; songs of joy, cheer, snow and Christmas would be playing from the radio as Hermione and Elizabeth hung the four stockings and put out cookies and a glass of milk for Saint-Nicholas; and the letter they wrote to him was always covered in scribbles since the girls could never decide what to say and wrote something down, only for it to get crossed out and rewritten a few seconds later.

Christmas this year was spent in the company of Draco only. Lucius and Narcissa had gone somewhere out of the country (probably somewhere warm) to spend the holidays and nearly all the Death Eaters had left to spend the holidays with whatever poor excuse of a family they had. It was quite empty, but at least Elizabeth and Draco had each other. With magic, Elizabeth had set up a giant Christmas tree in a corner of the sitting room, adorned with glistening silver and green ornaments and live fairies to light it up. Cooking and potions were quite similar so Elizabeth and Draco spent most of their morning attempting to bake a Christmas cake, but most of the batter and flour ended up on themselves and on the floor - a house elf was called to clean up and bake instead. The smell of cinnamon soon wafted through the Manor, lifting up the boy and girls' spirits instantly.

Breakfast consisted of cake and eggnog, which Draco had spiked with the Firewhiskey his parents kept on a high shelf, and they ate fresh baked muffins until they were sure they wouldn't be hungry for lunch. Around noon, they didn't eat anything but began to drink hot chocolate in large quantities until they were still drinking it into the late hours of the night when they finally decided it was time to open up their gifts. Elizabeth nearly burst into tears when she received a knit sweater from Mrs Weasley, thinking of how much Ron, Harry and Hermione were talking badly about her as they sat at the table for Christmas dinner, trapped Draco in a bone crushing embrace when she unwrapped a high-end potions kit that she'd been dying to have, and was tackled to the ground when Draco opened the gift she had gotten him. A lavish Christmas dinner was served near midnight where Draco and Ella had more eggnog, but it slowly graduated to plain Firewhiskey until they were singing Christmas carols around the Manor in obnoxiously loud voices. Both of them were more than slightly drunk.

Mistletoe seemed to be everywhere in the house. Elizabeth blamed the house elves, but she knew that Draco had been putting the bundles everywhere when he thought she wasn't looking. At almost every door frame, Draco would grab Elizabeth's hand and twirl her around to kiss her, each kiss getting more and more passionate as they danced around the house. The last visible bundle of mistletoe went unnoticed by both of them, although they were both kissing underneath it. It was a very sloppy kiss with the strong scent of Firewhiskey being exchanged in the intermingling of their breaths. Elizabeth's arms reached up and tangled around his neck, fingers running through the hair at the nape of his neck. Draco's lips then moved to Ella's jaw... her neck... her collarbone.

Before the door to Elizabeth's bedroom had even closed, Draco pinned her against the wall, his hands dropping to the girl's thighs and pulling up the skirt that hung so loosely above her knees. He turned her around and they tumbled to the bed, Draco's eyes searching Elizabeth's. Not knowing when it happened, Draco's body pressed against hers. Elizabeth's right hand flowed onto his collar and quickly undid the buttons, as her left hand greedily pulled his shirt off. Their lips parted and clasped onto one another once again with an adding of more pressure. Draco's hand slid smoothly onto her arm, raising it and pinning it over her head. Their kiss grew more greedy. The heat flowing throughout Ella's body began to grow as she felt his other hand slide through her cleavage and onto the shirt of her dress, in contact with the buttons - he slowly began to unhook them. Her dress was discarded, so were his trousers. Elizabeth's lace corset was gone shortly after that as well as Draco's boxers. In the twilit room, their fingers caressed each other's skin as if afraid a heavier touch would break the heady magic. They became one, one mind with one goal and purpose, each utterly drunk with love for the other.


	110. Useless Memories

The Ministry had assured a one-off connection to the Floo Network to return students quickly and safely to Hogwarts from their homes. Only Narcissa was there to bid farewell to her son and Elizabeth, as Lucius, Bellatrix and other Death Eaters had been called upon a meeting with the Dark Lord, who had returned the previous night from an unknown location - no one dared to ask. Narcissa kissed Draco on the cheek, much to his annoyance (he pulled a face when she wasn't looking), but he smiled at her nonetheless. The woman did the same to Elizabeth, who smiled as well and reassured her that she would keep Draco safe, a statement that earned a girlish giggle from Narcissa and an eye roll from Draco.

Of all the people Elizabeth had misjudged, Narcissa was the one she had gotten the most wrong. She was quite the socialite, throwing balls and parties for the manny charities the Malfoys supported on a regular basis, and quite enjoyed spending money on Elizabeth since she was the only other girl around (Bellatrix wasn't to be seen outside the Manor). Ella couldn't count the number of dresses and clothing articles that Narcissa had bought her anymore. And while she treated most people coldly and strongly believed in the same blood supremacy her husband did, Narcissa was very loving and devoted to her family, especially her son. She could be ruthless and cold, as could Elizabeth, but unlike Lucius she hadn't joined Voldemort and never received the Dark Mark like he did - she always looked upon her son's arm with tears in her eyes. She loved her family, Liz included. Elizabeth had often joked that the older Malfoys couldn't feel love, but my, were they wrong. Narcissa loved so much it practically hurt her physically.

Elizabeth straightened Draco's tie, as he could never do it properly on his own, and she stepped into one of the large ornate fireplaces in the large drawing room, a handful of glittering Floo Powder in her right hand. Glancing at Narcissa one last time, she threw the powder to the ground and shouted, "Hogwarts". Cool emerald flames engulfed her and Liz was sent spinning very fast. She caught blurred glimpses of other Wizarding rooms, which were whipped out of sight before she could get a proper look; then she was slowing down, finally stopping squarely in the fireplace in Professor Snape's office. He barely glanced up from his work as Elizabeth clambered out over the grate.

"Good evening, Miss Evans," Snape said. Elizabeth was slightly disappointed he didn't call her by her first name. "Try not to get too much ash on the floor."

"Of course, Professor," the girl replied.

Elizabeth smoothed out her hair and straightened her clothes as Draco came spinning into view as well. He and Snape glared at each other for a moment, then Draco grabbed his girlfriend's hand and pulled her out of the room and towards the Slytherin Common Room. They uttered the password, but nothing happened - the password had surely changed over the holidays. using her Prefect status, Elizabeth changed the password earlier than usual, which was sure to confuse a few students, but no matter; as long as she and Draco could get in she didn't much care.

Liz posted an extra obvious notice on the board stating the password change from "Salazar" to "Horned-Serpent", hoping that the first years and careless seventh years didn't miss it and got locked out of their Common Room like Crabbe and Goyle did quite often. Elizabeth glanced at the other notices; one of them caught her attention straight away.

* * *

 **APPARITION LESSONS**

 **If you are seventeen years of age, or will turn seventeen on or before the 31st August next, you are eligible for a twelve-week course of Apparition Lessons from a Ministry of Magic Apparition instructor.**

 **Please sign below if you would like to participate.**

 **Cost: 12 Galleons.**

* * *

"Draco, get your arse over here," Elizabeth called as she signed her name on the paper. Draco begrudgingly stood from the sofa and walked over. "Apparition. It'll be a laugh won't it?"

"Definitely, but I'm not sure I've got twelve Galleons to spend," Draco joked, signing his name as well. "I mean, do I want to apparate or have food on the table?"

"Draco, you have enough money to buy the Ministry for Merlin's sake."

"Do I? Hm, maybe I should buy the Ministry. I could tell the Minister what to do."

"Good Lord..."

With a smirk, Draco kissed Elizabeth jaw and lead her by the hand to the Great Hall where supper was under way. They greeted Blaise Zabini who seemed almost unnaturally happy to see them, as well as Pansy Parkinson who, as usual, sent Elizabeth death glares for being Draco's girlfriend. The Quidditch team greeted her warmly and asked when the next practise would be, and so she set a date, telling the boys that they'd better be on their best behaviour if they wanted to win against Gryffindor this year. Even Slughorn came to greet her as she poked at her peas, much to her annoyance.

The topic of conversation seemed to steer around the Christmas holidays and the appatition lessons, which to Elizabeth, was going to be incredibly easy since the Dark Lord and Bellatrix had begun teaching her unsupported flight - a trick that You-Know-Who only taught his elite. When the conversation switched to the Christmas holidays, Draco and Elizabeth couldn't help but be a little evasive at Blaise's pointed questions. Ella could have sworn that she saw Draco's face flush the lightest shade of pink when Zabini asked if they took advantage of the time they had without Draco's parents in the house, the memory of their naked bodies intertwined quite clear in their minds. Blaise didn't miss the change of colour for sure, as he smirked knowingly and clapped Malfoy on the shoulder, earning him a smirk from him and an eye roll from Liz. She was also sure Pansy had understood as well, as the girl flushed an angry shade of red.

As they were walking back to the Dungeons after supper, Elizabeth quite ignored the questions that Blaise was asking Draco, sure that they were highly inappropriate since they were nearly giggling like teenage girls - she also didn't like the looks that Blaise was giving her, as if Draco had expertly described every blemish on her body and the former was trying to see them through her clothes. Pansy remained furious and red-faced, stomping behind Blaise and sometimes gasping in horror at things that they'd say. This, however, made Liz smirk in victory - an unhappy Pansy Parkinson was music to her ears.

It took a few days, but Elizabeth received another scroll of parchment from Dumbledore, explaining that they had another meeting. She didn't want to go, beyond angry at him for making her lie to the people she loved and cared for, but she did anyway and sat silently in the chair in front of his desk, waiting for the man to speak. It wasn't unusual for her to stay quiet, fearing that her words might betray her cool exterior.

"Harry met the Minister for Magic during the holidays," Dumbledore said simply. Elizabeth said nothing. "He wanted to tell everyone that the Ministry was winning the war against Voldemort. Of course, he declined."

"I didn't come here to speak about my brother, Professor," Elizabeth said sharply.

"How is your mission coming along?" he asked after a moment.

"The one where I've got to bring Death Eaters into the castle, or the one where I have to kill you?"

"Both."

"I've started on the first, the second task is, well, proving to be difficult," Liz said quietly. "Was Snape making the Unbreakable Vow part of your plan?"

"No, it was not," Dumbledore admitted, "but if I die by his hand rather than yours, it wouldn't matter. As long as the young Mr Malfoy doesn't."

Elizabeth's jaw clenched. Why did he care so much about Draco not being the one to kill him? Was it because he'd never laid a finger on anyone? Why did Dumbledore even ask Elizabeth to kill him if he was all right with Snape doing it instead? Why did he entrust such a daunting task on the shoulders of a seventeen year old girl? Bastard.

"What am I here for, sir?"

"I have two more memories to show you, this evening - both obtained with enormous difficulty, and the second of them is, I think, the most important I have collected."

Elizabeth didn't say anything; she still felt angry at her reception and at the news that she was risking her life for no good reason, but she couldn't see what arguing further would do.

"So," Dumbledore said in a ringing voice, "we meet this evening to continue the tale of Tom Riddle, whom we left last lesson poised on the threshold of his years at Hogwarts. You will remember how excited he was to hear that he was a wizard, that he refused my company on a trip to Diagon Alley, and that I, in turn, warned him against continued thievery when he arrived at school.

"Well, the start of the school year arrived and with it came Tom Riddle, a quiet boy in his secondhand robes, who lined up with the other first years to be sorted. He was placed in Slytherin House almost the moment that the Sorting Hat touched his head," Dumbledore continued, waving his blackened hand toward the shelf over his head where the Sorting Hat sat, ancient and unmoving. "How soon Riddle learned that the famous founder of the House could talk to snakes, I do not know - perhaps that very evening. The knowledge can only have excited him and increased his sense of self-importance.

"However, if he was frightening or impressing fellow Slytherins with displays of Parseltongue in their common room, no hint of it reached the staff. He showed no sign of outward arrogance or aggression at all. As an unusually talented and very good-looking orphan, he naturally drew attention and sympathy from the staff almost from the moment of his arrival. He seemed polite, quiet, and thirsty for knowledge. Nearly all were most favorably impressed by him."

"You didn't tell them, what he'd been like when you met him at the orphanage?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, I did not. Though he had shown no hint of remorse, it was possible that he felt sorry for how he had behaved before and was resolved to turn over a fresh leaf. I chose to give him that chance. I resolved to keep a close eye upon him, however, and so I did.

"As he moved up the school, he gathered about him a group of dedicated friends; I call them that, for want of a better term, although as I have already indicated, Riddle undoubtedly felt no affection for any of them. This group had a kind of dark glamour within the castle. They were a motley collection; a mixture of the weak seeking protection, the ambitious seeking some shared glory, and the thuggish gravitating toward a leader who could show them more refined forms of cruelty. In other words, they were the forerunners of the Death Eaters, and indeed some of them became the first Death Eaters after leaving Hogwarts."

It didn't go unnoticed by Dumbledore that Elizabeth rubbed her inner arm when he spoke about Death Eaters.

"I have not been able to find many memories of Riddle at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, placing his withered hand on the Pensieve. "Few who knew him then are prepared to talk about him; they are too terrified. Those whom I could persuade to talk told me that Riddle was obsessed with his parentage. All he had to go upon was the single name 'Marvolo', which he knew from those who ran the orphanage had been his mother's father's name. Finally, after painstaking research through old books of Wizarding families, he discovered the existence of Slytherin's surviving line. In the summer of his sixteenth year, he left the orphanage to which he returned annually and set off to find his Gaunt relatives. And now, Elizabeth, if you will stand..." Dumbledore rose, and Harry saw that he was again holding a small crystal bottle filled with swirling, pearly memory. "I was very lucky to collect this," he said, as he poured the gleaming mass into the Pensieve. "As you will understand when we have experienced it. Shall we?"

Elizabeth stepped up to the stone basin and bowed obediently until her face sank through the surface of the memory; she felt the familiar sensation of falling through nothingness and then landed upon a dirty stone floor in almost total darkness. It took her barely a second to recognize the place, by which time Dumbledore had landed beside her. The Gaunts' house was now more indescribably filthy than Elizabeth had ever seen. The ceiling was thick with cobwebs, the floor coated in grime; moldy and rotting food lay upon the table amidst a mass of crusted pots. The only light came from a single guttering candle placed at the feet of a man with hair and beard so overgrown Elizabeth could see neither eyes nor mouth. He was slumped in an armchair by the fire, and Elizabeth wondered for a moment whether he was dead. But then there came a loud knock on the door and the man jerked awake, raising a wand in his right hand and a short knife in his left. The door creaked open. There on the threshold, holding an old fashioned lamp, stood a boy Elizabeth recognized at once: tall, pale, dark-haired, and very handsome - the teenage Voldemort.

Voldemort's eyes moved slowly around the hovel and then found the man in the armchair. For a few seconds they looked at each other, then the man staggered upright, the many empty bottles at his feet clattering and tinkling across the floor.

"YOU!" he bellowed. "YOU!" And he hurtled drunkenly at Riddle, wand and knife held aloft.

"Stop," Riddle spoke in Parseltongue.

The man skidded into the table, sending moldy pots crashing to the floor. He stared at Riddle. There was a long silence while they contemplated each other. The man broke it.

"You speak it?"

"Yes, I speak it," Riddle said.

He moved forward into the room, allowing the door to swing shut behind him. Elizabeth could not help but feel a resentful admiration for Voldemort's complete lack of fear. His face merely expressed disgust and, perhaps, disappointment.

"Where is Marvolo?" he asked.

"Dead," the other said. "Died years ago, didn't he?"

Riddle frowned, "Who are you, then?"

"I'm Morfin, ain't I?"

"Marvolo's son?"

"'Course I am, then..." Morfin pushed the hair out of his dirty face, the better to see Riddle, and Elizabeth saw that he wore Marvolo's black-stoned ring on his right hand. "I thought you was that Muggle," Morfin whispered. "You look mighty like that Muggle."

"What Muggle?" Riddle said sharply.

"That Muggle what my sister took a fancy to, that Muggle what lives in the big house over the way," Morfin said, and he spat unexpectedly upon the floor between them. Elizabeth's lip curled up in disgust. "You look right like him. Riddle. But he's older now, in 'e? He's older'n you, now I think on it..."

Morfin looked slightly dazed and swayed a little, still clutching the edge of the table for support.

"He come back, see," he added stupidly.

Voldemort was gazing at Morfin as though appraising his possibilities. Now he moved a little closer and said, "Riddle came back?"

"Ar, he left her, and serve her right, marrying filth!" said Morfin, spitting on the floor again. "Robbed us, mind, before she ran off! Where's the locket, eh, where's Slytherin's locket?" Riddle didn't answer. Morfin was working himself into a rage again; he brandished his knife and shouted, "Dishonored us, she did, that little slut! And who're you, coming here and asking questions about all that? It's over, innit... It's over..."

He looked away, staggering slightly, and Voldemort moved forward. As he did so, an unnatural darkness fell, extinguishing Voldemort's lamp and Morfin's candle, extinguishing everything... Dumbledore's fingers closed tightly around Elizabeth's arm and they were soaring back into the present again. The soft golden light in Dumbledore's office seemed to dazzle the girl's eyes after that impenetrable darkness.

"Is that all?" said Elizabeth at once. "You brought me here to see a memory fade to black?"

"The memory faded to black because Morfin could not remember anything from that point onward," Dumbledore said, gesturing Elizabeth back into her seat. "When he awoke next morning, he was lying on the floor, quite alone. Marvolo's ring had gone.

"Meanwhile, in the village of Little Hangleton, a maid was running along the High Street, screaming that there were three bodies lying in the drawing room of the big house: Tom Riddle Senior and his mother and father. The Muggle authorities were perplexed. As far as I am aware, they do not know to this day how the Riddles died, for the Avada Kedavra curse does not usually leave any sign of damage... The exception sits before me," Dumbledore added, with a nod to Elizabeth's scar.

"The Ministry, on the other hand, knew at once that this was a wizard's murder. They also knew that a convicted Muggle-hater lived across the valley from the Riddle house, a Muggle-hater who had already been imprisoned once for attacking one of the murdered people. So the Ministry called upon Morfin. They did not need to question him, to use Veritaserum or Legilimency. He admitted to the murder on the spot, giving details only the murderer could know. He was proud, he said, to have killed the Muggles, had been awaiting his chance all these years. He handed over his wand, which was proved at once to have been used to kill the Riddles. And he permitted himself to be led off to Azkaban without a fight."

"I imagine that the only thing that bothered him was that the ring was gone," Elizabeth said, disinterested. Dumbledore nodded. "And so, he lived out the remainder of his life in Azkaban, lamenting the loss of Marvolo's last heirloom," Elizabeth continued mockingly. "And Morfin never realized he hadn't done it? I'm sure that the Dark Lord used his wand and modified his memory, then."

Dumbledore remained silent for a few moments, taking in what she had said, for it was the first time that Elizabeth had willingly said "the Dark Lord" in front of him, or anyone else for that matter. He would be lying if it didn't bother him a little.

"He never realised. He gave, as I say, a full and boastful confession."

"But he had this real memory in him all the time!" Elizabeth argued. "Must've taken time and patience to get that memory out of such a twisted mind."

"Yes, it did, " Dumbledore said, "However, I was able to secure a visit to Morfin in the last weeks of his life, by which time I was attempting to discover as much as I could about Voldemort's past. I extracted this memory with difficulty. When I saw what it contained, I attempted to use it to secure Morfin's release from Azkaban."

"Can't see why you'd do that, he was still supposed to be in there."

"Before the Ministry reached their decision, however," the Headmaster continued, watching Elizabeth steadily, "Morfin had died."

"Good riddance," Elizabeth scoffed, crossing her arms and legs.

"Whatever Morfin was, he did not deserve to die as he did, blamed for murders he had not committed."

"He was still a Muggle hating git."

"I don't disagree, but I wouldn't exactly phrase it that way," Dumbledore said, worry gleaming in his eyes. He looked at the watch on his wrist. "It is getting late, and I want you to see this other memory before we part..."

Dumbledore took from an inside pocket another crystal phial and Elizabeth fell silent at once, remembering that Dumbledore had said it was the most important one he had collected. The Slytherin noticed that the contents proved difficult to empty into the Pensieve, as though they had congealed slightly; did memories go bad?

"This will not take long," Dumbledore said, when he had finally emptied the phial. "We shall be back before you know it. Once more into the Pensieve, then..."

And Elizabeth fell again through the silver surface, landing this time right in front of a man she recognized at once. She resisted the urge to groan. It was a much younger Horace Slughorn. Elizabeth was so used to him bald that she found the sight of Slughorn with thick, shiny, straw-colored hair quite disconcerting; it looked as though he had had his head thatched, though there was already a shiny Galleon sized bald patch on his crown. His mustache, less massive than it was these days, was gingery-blond. He was not quite as rotund as the Slughorn Liz knew, though the golden buttons on his richly embroidered waistcoat were taking a fair amount of strain. His little feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, he was sitting well back in a comfortable winged armchair, one hand grasping a small glass of wine, the other searching through a box of crystalized pineapple.

Elizabeth looked around as Dumbledore appeared beside her and saw that they were standing in Slughorn's office. Half a dozen boys were sitting around Slughorn, all on harder or lower seats than his, and all in their mid-teens. Elizabeth recognized Voldemort at once. His was the most handsome face and he looked the most relaxed of all the boys. His right hand lay negligently upon the arm of his chair; Elizabeth saw that he was wearing Marvolo's gold and black ring; he had already killed his father.

"Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?" he asked.

"Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn't tell you," Slughorn said, wagging a reproving, sugar-covered finger at Riddle, though ruining the effect slightly by winking. "I must say, I'd like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are."

Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him admiring looks.

"What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter - thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favorite-"

As several of the boys tittered, something very odd happened. The whole room was suddenly filled with a thick white fog, so that Elizabeth could see nothing but the face of Dumbledore, who was standing beside him. She suddenly realised: the memory was incomplete, maybe even tampered with. Then Slughorn's voice rang out through the mist, unnaturally loudly, "You"ll go wrong, boy, mark my words."

The fog cleared as suddenly as it had appeared and yet nobody made any allusion to it, nor did anybody look as though anything unusual had just happened. Elizabeth looked around as a small golden clock standing upon Slughorn's desk chimed eleven o'clock.

"Good gracious, is it that time already?" Slughorn said. "You'd better get going, boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Avery."

Elizabeth nearly threw up in her mouth. She was seeing the younger versions of the Death Eaters she was constantly with at Malfoy Manor. Then, Slughorn pulled himself out of his armchair and carried his empty glass over to his desk as the boys filed out. Voldemort, however, stayed behind. The girl could tell he had dawdled deliberately, wanting to be last in the room with Slughorn.

"Look sharp, Tom," Slughorn said, turning around and finding him still present. "You don't want to be caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect..."

"Sir, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away, then, m'boy, ask away..."

"Sir, I wondered what you know about... about Horcruxes?"

And it happened all over again: the dense fog filled the room so that Elizabeth could not see Slughorn or Voldemort at all; only Dumbledore, smiling serenely beside her. Then Slughorn's voice boomed out again, just as it had done before.

"I don't know anything about Horcruxes and I wouldn't tell you if I did! Now get out of here at once and don't let me catch you mentioning them again!"

"Well, that's that," Dumbledore said placidly beside Elizabeth. "Time to go."

And Liz's feet left the floor to fall, seconds later, back onto the rug in front of Dumbledore's desk.

"That memory's been tampered with," the girl said. "Or at the very least, it's incomplete. Surely, Slughorn wanted to make himself look better."

"Once again, I am surprised the Hat did not put you in Ravenclaw," Dumbledore said almost fondly.

"Oh, I know why I wasn't put in there..." Elizabeth shook her head. "But that's beside the point. Did Slughorn ever tell the Dark Lord about the Horcruxes? If he did, then, good! We can use those as a weakn-"

"Elizabeth."

The girl stopped moving - she hadn't realised she was furiously pacing the room, mind far away in thought. If Voldemort had created Horcruxes, then they could be destroyed and him along with them. Elizabeth didn't have to kill Dumbledore. Harry didn't have to die. It was a great idea... then why was Dumbledore looking at her so sadly?

"Surely you aren't going to tell me that I still have to kill you?" Elizabeth said, worried.

"I am afraid it must be so," Dumbledore said solemnly.

"But if we destroy the Horcruxes-"

"My dear, I have plans for those Horcruxes-"

"So, Slughorn did tell the Dark Lord about them!"

Dumbledore smiled, "And now, it seems, that I have just seen what puts you in Slytherin."

Elizabeth simply stared at the man, awaiting explanation.

"I have sent Harry on a mission of his own. I have asked him to retrieve the complete memory from Professor Slughorn," Dumbledore continued. "I have proven unsuccessful. And I believe that your brother is the one person who can penetrate the man's defenses."

"Surely, I could do it? By means of Legilimency, or Veritaserum?" Liz argued.

"Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard-" Elizabeth scoffed. "-who will be expecting both," Dumbledore said. "He is much more accomplished at Occlumency than poor Morfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he has not carried an antidote to Veritaserum with him ever since I coerced him into giving me this travesty of a recollection.

"No, I think it would be foolish to attempt to wrest the truth from Professor Slughorn by force, and might do much more harm than good; I do not wish him to leave Hogwarts. However, he has his weaknesses like the rest of us, and I believe that your brother is the one person who might be able to penetrate his defenses."

"Then what the hell is the point of showing me these memories if Harry's the one who's got to do all the work for you?" Elizabeth shouted. "Why is it that I have to spend time in a room with you, conversing normally, as if I didn't have the burden of your future murder on my shoulders. Why is it that I have to risk my life for you, when all you've ever done for me if give me a fake family and the threat of torture in my boyfriend's home? Have you ever thought, oh great Albus Dumbledore, that I don't want to do this? That torturing innocent people and killing Muggles is something that I don't enjoy?

"For God's sake, everyone thinks you're so damn fabulous, that you've got rainbows shooting out of your arse, but when it comes down to it, you're just a sorry and useless old man who asks children to kill for you.

"Now, If you'll excuse me, I've got better things to do than stand here and explain myself to you, when you can't even tell me a sliver of truth to my face. Good - night."


	111. Vulnerability

_Dear Elizabeth,_

 _I did you a favour by showing you Harry's Potions book, so you owe me something in return. I need to ask you a few questions about something. I'd rather not say here._

 _Meet me at the same place at the same time as before._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Hermione_

* * *

As usual, the Astronomy tower was off limits to students when it was not time for class, so, Elizabeth placed a disillusionment charm on herself since she couldn't have Harry's cloak or risk being seen by Filch and Mrs Norris - surely, if a Professor caught her, Snape would let her off the hook. She waited patiently, bundled up in her long cloak and Draco's scarf, and stared out at the snowy white grounds until Hermione arrived beside her, equally bundled. Neither of them said anything at first; Hermione was still debating whether this meeting had been a good idea considering what Harry had told her about Elizabeth, and Elizabeth was simply waiting for Hermione to speak, since she had nothing to say. Hermione broke the silence.

"I don't care what Harry's said about you; I'm sure you have your reasons," she said quietly.

"Is that why I'm here? To listen to you tell me that Harry's been bad-mouthing me?" Liz snapped.

"No, it's not. I'm here because I need your help."

"My help? That's laughable."

"Come off it, Lizzie, this is important!" Hermione said, irritated. "Harry's told Ron and I about something and I'm afraid to say that I've got no idea what it is. I figured that this was more... your area of expertise."

"I wasn't aware that I had an area of expertise," Elizabeth said simply.

"Liz, you're known for your jinxes and all that Dark Arts stuff - you showed us plenty of it in the D.A. and you used something at the Battle of Department of Mysteries that I'd never seen before. Oh, don't look at me like that; Harry told me about the effects of that spell." Hermione said sharply, for Elizabeth had thrown her a dirty look. "Just hear me out, all right? Harry said it was something dark and I thought maybe you'd know about it."

"Fine," Elizabeth said, "what did that idiot tell you, now? Something he wasn't supposed to, I presume?"

"Well, I don't know if you know, but Harry's been having these meetings with Dumbledore-" Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "-and well, the last meeting he came back talking about something called Horcruxes. Do you-"

"No."

"No?"

"Are you deaf?"

"No, I'm not. Liz, what are Horcruxes?"

"They are things that you shouldn't meddle with - ever," Liz said dangerously, pointing a finger at Hermione's chest. "Forget you ever heard about them, you hear me?"

"But, Liz-"

"No, Hermione. Forget about it, forget about that awful word. That's darker stuff than you're prepared for, Hermione, trust me. After all, it is my 'area of expertise'."

It was very much awkward when Elizabeth and Hermione had to go to Potions class the following day, but the former didn't make a big show out of it, unlike Hermione who seemed to be avidly trying to get the Slytherin's attention. Elizabeth sat in the front with Draco and Blaise, as usual, and partially ignored Professor Slughorn as she reread her Potions textbook and added in a few things to Golpalott's Third Law, stating that there was no need for all these complicated measures and divisions - shoving a Bezoar down someone's throat was good enough. However, Slughorn required that they chose a poison and created its antidote. It was easy enough, and if she hadn't the time to complete it, she'd just give Slughorn a damn Bezoar; he couldn't fault her for being right, could he?

When Slughorn gave the signal, she rose from her seat and grabbed two phials with poison and came back to her station to give one of them to Draco who had been to lazy to get up. Elizabeth tipped the other phial's contents into her cauldron all while starting a medium-sized fire underneath it. When the fumes began to float out of her cauldron (by which time Hermione had divided her potion in ten, quite unnecessarily), Elizabeth hovered over it and caught it's scent. It was easy to determine whether it was a common or an uncommon poison that way, to Elizabeth anyhow. And so, deciding it was fairly uncommon, she gathered Fire Seeds, powdered Graphorn horn, Billywig stings and Chizpurfle carapaces and began making her Antitode to Uncommon Poisons, all the while Slughorn was watching her excitedly from his desk.

"Two minutes left!" Slughorn called. Elizabeth heard Draco cuss under his breath.

"What's wrong?" she said, stirring her potion for the final time.

"It's not blue enough," Draco muttered.

Elizabeth looked over at his potion, then said, "Just add another measure of Graphorn horn and stir it twice clockwise, you should be all right."

"What would I do without you?" Draco breathed, smiling at her.

"Crash and burn?" Ella shrugged, smirking.

"Guys, quit being so disgustingly cute," Blaise complained.

Before Ella could argue, Slughorn shouted, "Time's up! Well, Blaise, let's see what you've got for me... Hmm." He paused. "A decent attempt." Slughorn turned to Liz and smiled brightly. "My dear Elizabeth, what wonder have you concocted today? Ah, splendid! Top marks again, Elizabeth! It is clear to me that you've used the Third Law perfectly!"

"Actually, I didn't use the Third Law at all. I find it quite useless, to be honest," Elizabeth said, "I just determined that it was an uncommon poison by smell and went from there."

"Goodness gracious, even better! Ten points to Slytherin for pure talent, my dear. Wonderful, simply wonderful... Just like your mother!" Slughorn went over to Draco. "Mr Malfoy, what have we got?" He paused and examined the boy's cauldron. "Very good indeed! That is the exact shade of blue you would look for in this antidote!"

Slughorn went around the room, examining everyone's potions. Elizabeth didn't much care about the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs, but she was eager to see how Harry and his precious book had done as she distinctly recalled seeing nothing scribbled down next to Golpalott's Third Law - clearly, the previous owner knew what it was. Slughorn said the same thing to Hermione as he did to Blaise, her potion only half complete and nearly choked on the putrid fumes rising from Ron's cauldron. Harry however, had enough nerve to simply hand out a Bezoar. Ella's jaw clenched.

"You've got nerve, boy!" Slughorn said happily. "Yes, a Bezoar would definitely act as an antidote to all these poisons."

"Think of that all by yourself, Potter?" Elizabeth scoffed, glancing at his potions book.

The siblings glared at each other until the bell rang and Draco pulled his girlfriend away, surprisingly not interested in fighting Harry Potter today or simply wanting Elizabeth to stop fuming in the presence of her brother. Either way, they left quite rapidly to each lunch before their next class which, Draco thought, would raise his girlfriend's spirit since it was Defence Against the Dark Arts with Snape. Of course, he was right. Ella exited the class animatedly talking about Inferi and all the extra information that Snape had left out because they were 'simply useless details' according to Blaise, who was beyond annoyed at Elizabeth's constant rambling. Draco found it amusing and let her drone on and on - he loved hearing her talk, even if it was about Necromancy.

Her free day had arrived sooner rather than later, and Elizabeth was not happy that she had to use it to get Death Eaters into the castle. Pacing in front of the Room of Requirement, she repeated what she wanted in hopes that the door would appear, ignoring Crabbe and Goyle standing watch. It took a few moments, but the large wooden doors magically appeared, two large brass handles waiting to be pulled. Inside, it was a mess; towers of rubbish and hidden things were stacked floor to ceiling and dust caked almost everything in there, save the gleaming black cabinet that Elizabeth had been spending so much time with this year.

Elizabeth walked over to the Vanishing Cabinet and took out the book that Snape had given her as well as a few other things. Liz placed an apple at the bottom of the cabinet and closed it, waited a few minutes, and opened it again. The apple was splattered against its walls. Elizabeth cursed. She sat cross-legged on the ground and opened the book on her lap, turning pages until she found the incantation that Snape had given her. The girl practised the wand movement for a few minutes before she stood up again and pointed her wand at the cabinet.

"Harmiona Nectere Passus."

She stared at the cabinet for a moment, before its surface began to glimmer in the ambient light. Light played within the cabinet. Movement. Shadows flickered. Elizabeth stepped forward and opened the cabinet, moving something around and putting things back into their place. She did this for the next two hours, until her stomach began to rumble. Sighing, she put everything back into her bag and turned away, unaware that the apple inside the cabinet had completely vanished.

* * *

The snow melted around the school as February arrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle and a constant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slippery and muddy. The upshot of this was that the sixth years' first Apparition lesson, which was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed, took place in the Great Hall instead of in the grounds. When Elizabeth, Draco and his minions had arrived, they found that the tables had disappeared. Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them as they assembled in front of Professors Snape, McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout - the Heads of Houses - and a small wizard whom Elizabeth assumed was to be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry. He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away.

Draco and Elizabeth had come into the Great Hall arguing about their tasks and Crabbe and Goyle's unwillingness to cooperate in Draco's indeavours. It seemed that Crabbe and Goyle didn't want to do anything Malfoy said anymore unless they knew what he was up to, and that was certainly out of the question.

"Good morning," said the Ministry wizard, when all the students had arrived and the Heads of Houses had called for quiet. "My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time-"

"Malfoy, Evans, be quiet and pay attention!" Professor McGonagall barked.

Everybody looked around. Elizabeth and Draco had flushed a dull pink; they looked mutinous as they stepped away from Crabbe and Goyle, with whom the two were still arguing with. Liz glanced quickly at Snape, who also looked annoyed, though Elizabeth strongly suspected it was because McGonagall had reprimanded his two favourite students.

"-by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests," Twycross continued, as though there had been no interruption. "As you may know, it is usually impossible to apparate or disapparate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try.

"I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you."

There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space. The Heads of Houses moved among the students, marshaling them into position and breaking up arguments. Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Evans were taking advantage of the general upheaval to continue their argument.

"I don't know how much longer, all right?" Elizabeth shot at Crabbe. "It's taking longer than I thought it would."

Crabbe opened his mouth, but Malfoy appeared to second-guess what he was going to say.

"Look, it's none of your business what she's doing, Crabbe - you and Goyle just do as you're told and keep a lookout!"

"I tell my friends what I'm up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me," a voice said from behind said, just loud enough for Elizabeth and Draco to hear it.

The couple spun around on the spot, hands flying to their wands, but at that precise moment the four Heads of House shouted, "Quiet!" and silence fell again. The two Slytherins turned slowly to face the front again.

"Thank you," Twycross said. "Now then..." He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every student. "The important things to remember when apparating are the three D's! Destination, Determination, Deliberation-"

Elizabeth drowned Twycross out. She looked over her shoulder to glare at Harry, whose bright green eyes were swimming with fury and staring back into her impassive face. Naturally, he'd seen them arguing and, being the curious little prat he was, decided that it was a great idea to eavesdrop on them. Naturally, for Harry Potter, anyway.

Eventually, Ella concentrated back on Twycross when he was finishing up his speech, "Step three, and only when I give the command... Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command, now... one-" Elizabeth concentrated on the space in the hoop. "-two, three!"

The next thing she knew everything went black; she was pressed very hard from all directions and couldn't breathe - it was as if there were iron bands tightening around her chest, as if her eyeballs were being forced back into her head. That's less pleasant than unsupported flight, Elizabeth thought, as everything seemed to return to normal, though she did feel slightly nauseous.

In the next hour, nobody but herself had managed to apparate successfully. Susan Bones had managed to get herself splinched (her left leg had not followed her into the hoop), Ernie MacMillan had done so many somersaults that he could have been in the circus and many others had fallen flat on their faces, resulting in quite a few bloody noses and missing front teeth. Twycross did not seem discouraged - he was most likely used to people failing miserably at their first attempts. However, he was quite happy when Elizabeth managed to apparate more than three times in a row.

It was unfortunate news to hear, that same night, for Elizabeth, that the poisoned bottle of mead that Draco had slipped to Slughorn for him to give to Dumbledore had in fact poisoned Ron Weasley, who was going to be in the hospital wing for the next week or so. However, it was worse news for Draco, for multiple reasons: he'd failed to accomplish his mission again and the threat on his family was bigger than ever before, more so his mother of course (he simply wanted to right his father's wrongs); and, like Elizabeth kept saying, these so-called plans of his were endangering more and more people as they progressed in their endeavours. He didn't want to have to resort to letting Elizabeth do his job for him - she'd hurt enough people already.

The news that Ron had been poisoned brought on the rarest of phenomenon: a view of Draco's vulnerability. Draco was, in general, an arrogant spiteful bully - there was no denying that. He believed himself superior to most people, frequently behaved cruelly to Muggle-borns, so-called blood traitors, and so forth. For much of his youth, Draco took after his bigoted father, Lucius Malfoy. However, he began to change recently. He no longer did any of his homework, he'd rejected his prefect duties (which he frequently abused), hadn't shown up to any Quidditch practises, distanced himself from Crabbe and Goyle (using them only as body guards for Elizabeth as she was fixing the Vanishing Cabinet) and, the most surprising, spent less and less time mocking Harry and his friends, despite the numerous opportunities. It seemed that Elizabeth had taken that up for him.

After the Dark Lord had given him the task of killing Albus Dumbledore, and after his family was threatened, the stress of it all was leading him down the rollercoaster of life. Once happy to oblige anything the Dark Lord asked of him, Draco became disillusioned by that lifestyle. While Elizabeth was demanded, nearly forced to participate in Death Eater activities, Draco only reluctantly did so. Elizabeth could see it in his eyes that he was afraid, not only for himself, but for his family and herself, fearing that if she went to far, she'd never come back.

A window into Draco's psyche was hard to come by, even harder than a window into Elizabeth's psyche - at least she got visibly angry on occasion, hexing fourth years who were walking too slow in the halls (she almost never got detention for this since Snape favoured her). These days, Draco simply seemed depressed and distant. Most nights, Elizabeth and Draco would stay in the Common Room until everyone was fast asleep then crawl into bed together, Draco's head on Elizabeth's chest, and tears falling freely from his now dull grey eyes. Liz always pretended to be asleep at these moments because she knew that he wouldn't want her to see him like this. It pained her to not be able to do anything, to just lay there and pretend that everything was all right. But, sometimes, when she thought it was safe to say he was asleep (and because the curtains around the four-poster seemed to be soundproofed), she'd hum a soft song, running her frail fingers through Draco's hair. Little did she know, it was the sound of her voice that made Draco's tears go away...


	112. Darkest of Places

The following week Elizabeth had gotten another scroll at breakfast, sealed with the same wax coat of arms that all her letters from Hogwarts were. She knew it was Dumbledore, she didn't have to open it - which she didn't. Instead, with a wave of her wand, she turned it into a pile of ash which fell like snow into a little pile beside her morning cuppa. She had no intention of going to see Dumbledore and another one of his stupid recollections, only for him to dangle information in front of her face and retreat it when she was about to grasp it. He was toying with her; at least, that's how she felt.

Not even Draco or Blaise asked questions about the parchment, decidedly ignoring it all together and continuing on eating their breakfasts as if nothing odd had ever happened. Pansy had been a little more persistent however and, with a pointed glare in her direction, Elizabeth rose from her seat and set off towards the Room of Requirement, hoping to get a little bit done on that cabinet before her next lesson. On her way there, however, she had to change course and head for the Dungeons as she was hearing footsteps approaching her from behind. When Liz had reached the hole-in-the-wall, a voice called out to her.

"Miss Evans."

She turned around slowly and said, "Yes, Professor?"

"I think it would be advisable," Snape began in his usual collected voice, "to not burn the note this time." He held out another roll of parchment that was clearly from the Headmaster. "Your presence at these meetings is of utmost importance."

Elizabeth didn't take the parchment, instead stared mutinously at it and at her Head of House. He raised an eyebrow.

"Are we simply going to stand here all day? If I'm not mistaken you have a class to go to in a few hours."

"Well, I'm not standing here all day," Elizabeth said and turned to the wall, "Vipera Evanesca."

"Miss Evans, take the parchment and go to the meeting," Snape insisted.

"And what if I don't want to, huh? Are you going to force me?"

"Watch your tone, Elizabeth."

"Would you just pick one already?" Elizabeth said exasperated. "Miss Evans, this; Elizabeth, that - pick one for Merlin's sake! It's like your addressing someone who's got a double personality or something." Snape stared. Elizabeth sighed. "Sorry, Professor, that was rude."

"Indeed it was, Elizabeth," Snape said. "I suggest you keep your attitude in check; remember what I taught you."

"Right... Occlumency. Got it." The girl took the parchment from the man's hand. "I'm only going because you insisted upon it. Dumbledore can shove this parchment right up his-"

"Elizabeth."

"Right, attitude in check."

As it turned out, the meeting was useless. Dumbledore didn't have a memory he wanted to share, simply apologies to be heard - apologies which fell on deaf ears and that didn't remain in his office for very long. She needed no apologies from anyone. Elizabeth was doing this for the greater good and not for Dumbledore. Elizabeth was doing this for her father. Her father... What could Dumbledore have possibly gotten him into? Nothing good considering the predicament that she, herself, was in. Knowing Dumbledore, if her job was atrocious, her father's was surely worse.

Soon, the first Quidditch match of the year came around. Elizabeth had been drilling her team so hard these past few weeks that they often went back their dorms sore, dirty and slightly bloody, as Liz was determined to win against Gryffindor this year. But with Draco unwilling to participate in anything these days, she wasn't sure that Harper was good enough to win it for them. He was good, but he just wasn't Draco.

"All right, Ladies, listen up!" Elizabeth said, fully in uniform and holding her broom beside her, looking positively menacing.

Everyone became silent and alert. It amused Elizabeth that she could capture their attention so easily.

"Crabbe, Goyle - make sure you fly out of the sun. If you can't, take these." Liz tossed them a pair of goggles each. "They're charmed to block out sunlight. I've got a pair for each of you, don't get your knickers in a twist, Zabini.

"Miles, keep doing what you were doing in practise - stay wide and anticipate." Bletchley nodded. "Harper - catch the snitch fast and first - don't fuck it up; this is only Ravenclaw.

"Zabini, Pucey - keep sharp and pass quickly, without hesitation. If the other team gets possession of the Quaffle it's not the end of the world, we'll just steal it back.

"Now, to all of you - I want a nice, clean game. None of this cheating business, all right? If we're going to win, I want to win fair and square. That means no bats to the back of the head Crabbe. Should one of you be injured, the replacements are already here." Elizabeth turned to the substitute players sitting quietly on the bench beside her. "Vaisey, Urquhart, Pike - stay warmed up. You never know what those Ravenclaw are up to... Ready?"

"Aye, Captain!" the team shouted.

"Good, now let's get on the pitch and kick Ravenclaw's arse."

The team set off onto the pitch with a war cry, Elizabeth at the front, and stopped in front of the Ravenclaw team. The girl took a moment to size them up. Cho Chang was now Captain, seeing as Roger Davies had graduated last year; she was a fast flyer, but Harper was faster. Jason Samuels and Duncan Inglebee, the Beaters, were slightly less burly than Crabbe and Goyle, but they seemed to be well off - she'd have to tell her own Beaters to keep an eye on them. Elizabeth merely scoffed seeing the teams' Chasers, knowing all to well that they were very new to the team and seemed more nervous than Hermione doing her O. . Ravenclaw's are dead, she thought immediately.

Elizabeth shook Cho's hand unnecessarily hard (she saw the Ravenclaw wince) and they all mounted their brooms. Elizabeth signaled for Miles to head towards the goal posts, she told Crabbe and Goyle to keep a close eye on the opposite team's Beaters, reminded Zabini and Pucey of their plays, and told Harper to out fly Cho Chang. Just then, Madam Hooch released the Snitch which went flying out of sight, then the Bludgers and, with a blow of her whistle, released the Quaffle and the game was on.

Zabini got hold of the Quaffle first and zoomed off, narrowly missing hitting one of the Ravenclaw Chasers (Elizabeth was sure it was on purpose). As a Bludger came swooping past, he spun and threw the Quaffle to Elizabeth, missing the rabid ball by mere inches. Liz flew off at top speed and, at the very last second, confusing the hell out of the Keeper, threw the Quaffle to Pucey, who scored easily.

"And the first point goes to Slytherin!" the commentator, Zacharias Smith, said over a roaring crowd. "And now Anders is in possession of the- No! Evans has stolen it back and... score! Twenty to nothing for Slytherin!

"Now, Gregson's got the Quaffle and he's passed onto Anders and - oh! A Bludger straight to the chest from Goyle! Zabini's got the Quaffle now, he's passed it to Pucey and Evans makes a weird hand gesture (they're using code! A smart move by Captain Elizabeth Evans). Pucey moves forward and... score! Thirty to nothing for the Serpent's House!

"It looks like Harper's spotted something! He's diving and so is Chang! Meanwhile, Evans has scored twice already making it fifty to nothing for Slytherin. Oh, Anders has finally managed to score! A narrow miss by very talented Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley. The score's now fifty to ten.

"Harper and Chang are still fighting for the snitch as Zabini zooms in for another pass to Evans. She fakes a left hoop throw and shoots right - score! Sixty to ten - Ravenclaw Captain Cho Chang's strategy is nothing compared to Evans' team plays. Speaking of Chang, she and Harper are neck and neck - the Snitch is within their grasp - Zabini scores - Harper leans forward and... HARPER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! SLYTHERIN WINS WITH 210 POINTS!"

Sweaty, red-faced and panting, the Slytherin team landed on the pitch and huddle-up, cheering and clapping in victory with the green side of the stands. The cheers lifted Elizabeth's spirits. Their win was a singular happy moment in the dark times she was in. She happy and, for once, she showed it, making her team even happier about their win. Elizabeth, just this once, would allow herself a sliver of happiness she so desperately needed.

The first win of the season was never taken lightly. That afternoon (and until the wee hours of the night) the Slytherin Dungeon had become a Muggle dance club; the music was so loud that it made Elizabeth's skin tingle her lungs feel like mush: the bass thumped in time with her heart beat as though they were one, filling the girl from head to toe with music. Everyone was dancing as though they'd forgotten how to stand. Over the roar of music, a distant, hazy chatter could be heard. You couldn't make out any words, but laughter rang Elizabeth's ears and wouldn't seem to stop. That was until Professor Snape crashed the party around midnight and ordered everyone to bed at once.

The next morning, Elizabeth received yet another letter from Dumbledore. Casting a glance at her Head of House, who was looking directly at her, she sighed and unrolled it, seeing the usual meeting time. That evening, Elizabeth hurried away from dinner and up to the Gargoyle which spun out of the girl's way at the mention of toffee eclairs. She knocked on the door as the clock chimed eight.

"Enter," Dumbledore called, but as she was reaching for the door, Harry walked out, glaring.

"What're you glaring at me for, now?"

"I'll figure out what you and Malfoy are up to, Liz," he said barely above a whisper. "And when I do I'll put a stop to it."

"Keep dreaming, Potter."

Elizabeth sighed sadly as she pushed passed Harry and entered Dumbledore's office, no less angry than the last time she was here. The Headmaster stared at her for a few seconds before he broke the silence.

"Harry has not yet managed to procure us the memory that Slughorn has tampered with," he said. "It seems he has been a bit preoccupied. What with his best friend being poisoned and such..."

Dumbledore cast a knowing gaze at Elizabeth which made her highly uncomfortable. Of course he knew that bottle of mead was for him, but did he know what was happening to her and Draco because of these tasks? Most certainly not. At least, Liz thought, he didn't bother apologizing this time around.

"Tonight, things become murkier and stranger. If it was difficult to find evidence about the boy Riddle, it has been almost impossible to find anyone prepared to reminisce about the man Voldemort. In fact, I doubt whether there is a soul alive, apart from himself, who could give us a full account of his life since he left Hogwarts. However, I have two last memories that I would like to share with you." Dumbledore indicated the two little crystal bottles gleaming beside the Pensieve. "I shall then be glad of your opinion as to whether the conclusions I have drawn from them seem likely."

The idea that Dumbledore valued her opinion this highly made Elizabeth feel even more deeply angry; if he could value her opinion why could he not value her life as well as Draco's? She shifted stiffly in her seat as Dumbledore raised the first of the two phials to the light and examined it.

"This first one came from a very old house-elf by the name of Hokey. Before we see what Hokey witnessed, I must quickly recount how Lord Voldemort left Hogwarts."

"I know what happened. He told us at dinner once," Elizabeth said flatly, her gaze steadily directed at the eyes behind half-moon spectacles. "He graduated with top marks - everyone expected much of him. But he went to work at Borgin and Burkes, much to everyone's surprise. Of course, he wanted to stay at Hogwarts as Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, but even the Dark Lord can't have everything, can he?" There was a pause in which Dumbledore studied the girl intensely, slightly unnerved by her lack of concern. "He knows you're the reason why Headmaster Dippet was so reluctant to take him as a teacher, by the way."

"I would expect no less," Dumbledore said. "Now, you may already know this, but Voldemort was no mere shop assistant. Polite and handsome and clever, he was soon given particular jobs of the type that only exist in a place like Borgin and Burkes, which specializes, as you know, Elizabeth, in objects with unusual and powerful properties. Voldemort was sent to persuade people to part with their treasures for sale by the partners, and he was, by all accounts, unusually gifted at doing this."

"I don't doubt that for a second."

"And now, it is time to hear from Hokey the house elf, who worked for one Hepzibah Smith." Dumbledore tapped the contents of the phial in the Pensieve. "After you, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth got to her feet and bent once more over the rippling silver contents of the stone basin until his face touched them. She tumbled through dark nothingness and landed in a sitting room in front of an immensely fat old lady wearing an elaborate ginger wig and a brilliant pink set of robes that flowed all around her, giving her the look of a melting iced cake. She was looking into a small jeweled mirror and dabbing rouge onto her already scarlet cheeks with a large powder puff, while the tiniest and oldest house-elf Elizabeth had ever seen laced her fleshy feet into tight satin slippers.

"Hurry up, Hokey!" Hepzibah said imperiously. "He said he'd come at four, it's only a couple of minutes to and he's never been late yet!"

She tucked away her powder puff as the house elf straightened up. The top of the elf's head barely reached the seat of Hepzibah's chair, and her papery skin hung off her frame just like the crisp linen sheet she wore draped like a toga.

"How do I look?" Hepzibah asked, turning her head to admire the various angles of her face in the mirror.

"Lovely, madam," Hokey squeaked.

Elizabeth could only assume that it was down in Hokey's contract that she must lie through her teeth when asked this question, because Hepzibah Smith looked a long way from lovely in her opinion. Just then, a tinkling doorbell rang and made both the house elf and the witch jump.

"Quick, quick, he's here, Hokey!"

The elf scurried out of the room, which was so crammed with objects that it was difficult to see how anybody could navigate their way across it without knocking over at least a dozen things: there were cabinets full of little lacquered boxes, cases full of gold-embossed books, shelves of orbs and celestial globes, and many flourishing potted plants in brass containers. In fact, the room looked like a cross between a magical antique shop and a conservatory.

The house elf returned within minutes, followed by a tall young man Elizabeth had no difficulty whatsoever in recognizing as Voldemort. He was plainly dressed in a black suit; his hair was a little longer than it had been at school and his cheeks were hollowed, but all of this suited him; he looked more handsome than ever. He picked his way through the cramped room with an air that showed he had visited many times before and bowed low over Hepzibah's fat little hand, brushing it with his lips.

"I brought you flowers," he said quietly, producing a bunch of roses from nowhere.

"You naughty boy, you shouldn't have!" Hepzibah squealed. "You do spoil this old lady, Tom... Sit down, sit down... Where's Hokey? Ah..."

The house-elf had come dashing back into the room carrying a tray of little cakes, which she set at her mistress's elbow.

"Help yourself, Tom. I know how you love my cakes. Now, how are you? You look pale. They overwork you at that shop, I've said it a hundred times..." Riddle smiled mechanically and Hepzibah simpered. "Well, what's your excuse for visiting this time?"

"Mr. Burke would like to make an improved offer for the goblin-made armor," said Voldemort. "Five hundred Galleons, he feels it is a more than fair-"

"Now, now, not so fast, or I'll think you're only here for my trinkets!" Hepzibah pouted.

"I am ordered here because of them," Riddle said quietly. "I am only a poor assistant, madam, who must do as he is told. Mr Burke wishes me to inquire-"

"Oh, Mr. Burke, phooey!" Hepzibah said, waving a little hand. "I've got something to show you that I've never shown Mr. Burke! Can you keep a secret, Tom? Will you promise you won't tell Mr. Burke I've got it? He'd never let me rest if he knew I'd shown it to you, and I'm not selling, not to Burke, not to anyone! But you, Tom, you'll appreciate it for its history, not how many Galleons you can get for it."

"I'd be glad to see anything Miss Hepzibah shows me," Voldemort said quietly, and Hepzibah gave another girlish giggle.

"I had Hokey bring it out for me... Hokey, where are you? I want to show Mr Riddle our finest treasure... In fact, bring both, while you're at it."

"Here, madam," the house elf squeaked.

Elizabeth saw two leather boxes, one on top of the other, moving across the room as if of their own free will, though she knew the tiny elf was holding them over her head as she weaved her way between tables, pouffes, and footstools.

"Now," Hepzibah said happily, taking the boxes from the elf, laying them in her lap, and preparing to open the topmost one, "I think you'll like this, Tom... Oh, if my family knew I was showing you... They can't wait to get their hands on this!"

She opened the lid. Elizabeth edged forward a little to get a better view and saw what looked like a small golden cup with two finely wrought handles.

"I wonder whether you know what it is, Tom? Pick it up, have a good look!" Hepzibah whispered.

Riddle stretched out a long-fingered hand and lifted the cup by one handle out of its snug silken wrappings. Elizabeth thought she saw a red gleam in his dark eyes. His greedy expression was curiously mirrored on Hepzibah's face, except that her tiny eyes were fixed upon Voldemort's handsome features.

"A badger," Riddle murmured, examining the engraving upon the cup. "Then this was... ?"

"Helga Hufflepuff's, as you very well know, you clever boy!" Hepzibah said, leaning forward with a loud creaking of corsets and actually pinching his hollow cheek. "Didn't I tell you I was distantly descended? This has been handed down in the family for years and years. Lovely, isn't it? And all sorts of powers it's supposed to possess too, but I haven't tested them thoroughly, I just keep it nice and safe in here."

She hooked the cup back off Voldemort's long forefinger and restored it gently to its box, too intent upon settling it carefully back into position to notice the shadow that crossed Riddle's face as the cup was taken away. Hepzibah turned her attention to the much flatter box in her lap.

"I think you'll like this even more, Tom," she whispered. "Lean in a little, dear boy, so you can see... Of course, Burke knows I've got this one, I bought it from him, and I daresay he'd love to get it back when I'm gone."

She slid back the fine filigree clasp and flipped open the box. Elizabeth's eyes went wide. There upon the smooth crimson velvet lay a heavy golden locket. Riddle reached out his hand, without invitation this time, and held it up to the light, staring at it.

"Slytherin's mark," he said quietly, as the light played upon an ornate, serpentine S.

"That's right!" Hepzibah said, apparently delighted at the sight of Voldemort gazing at her locket, transfixed. "I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I couldn't let it pass, not a real treasure like that, had to have it for my collection. Burke bought it, apparently, from a ragged-looking woman who seemed to have stolen it, but had no idea of its true value-"

There was no mistaking it this time: Tom Riddle's eyes flashed scarlet at the words, and Elizabeth saw his knuckles whiten on the locket's chain.

"-I daresay Burke paid her a pittance but there you are... Pretty, isn't it? And again, all kinds of powers attributed to it, though I just keep it nice and safe."

She reached out to take the locket back. For a moment, Liz thought Riddle wasn't going to let go of it, but then it had slid through his fingers and was back in its red velvet cushion.

"So there you are, Tom, dear, and I hope you enjoyed that!" She looked him full in the face and for the first time, Elizabeth saw her foolish smile falter. "Are you all right, dear?"

"Oh yes," Riddle said quietly. "Yes, I'm very well."

"I thought - but a trick of the light, I suppose." Hepzibah said, looking unnerved, and Elizabeth guessed that she too had seen the momentary red gleam in Voldemort's eyes. "Here, Hokey, take these away and lock them up again - the usual enchantments..."

"Time to leave, Elizabeth," Dumbledore said quietly.

And as the little elf bobbed away bearing the boxes, Dumbledore grasped Elizabeth once again above the elbow and together they rose up through oblivion and back to Dumbledore's office.

"Hepzibah Smith died two days after that little scene," Dumbledore said, resuming his seat and indicating that Elizabeth should do the same. "Hokey the house elf was convicted by the Ministry of poisoning her mistress' evening cocoa by accident."

"No doubt Riddle replaced her memory just as he did Morfin's," Elizabeth said, quickly taking a toffee candy from a bowl on Dumbledore's desk before it snapped her fingers.

"I see we are of one mind," Dumbledore said. "Certainly, there are many similarities between this death and that of the Riddles. In both cases, somebody else took the blame, someone who had a clear memory of having caused the death-"

"What did the elf confess?"

"She remembered putting something in her mistress' cocoa that turned out not to be sugar, but a lethal and little-known poison. It was concluded that she had not meant to do it, but being old and confused-"

"No one bothered to look further, right," Elizabeth said, sucking on her toffee.

"By the time Hokey was convicted, Hepzibah's family had realized that two of her greatest treasures were missing. It took them a while to be sure of this, for she had many hiding places, having always guarded her collection most jealously. But before they were sure beyond doubt that the cup and the locket were both gone, the assistant who had worked at Borgin and Burke's, the young man who had visited Hepzibah so regularly and charmed her so well, had resigned his post and vanished. His superiors had no idea where he had gone; they were as surprised as anyone at his disappearance. And that was the last that was seen or heard of Tom Riddle for a very long time.

"Now," Dumbledore said, "if you don't mind, Elizabeth, I want to pause once more to draw your attention to certain points of our story. Voldemort had committed another murder; whether it was his first since he killed the Riddles, I do not know, but I think it was. This time, as you will have seen, he killed not for revenge, but for gain. He wanted the two fabulous trophies that poor, besotted, old woman showed him. Just as he had once robbed the other children at his orphanage, just as he had stolen his Uncle Morfin's ring, so he ran off now with Hepzibah's cup and locket."

"'The creation of a Horcrux is achievable by two simple tasks: the use of a spell and the taking of one's life by means of Avada Kedavra, known now as the Killing Curse. One murder must be committed for each Horcrux created, but it is inadvisable to create more than one'," Elizabeth recited, remembering the contents of the book Dumbledore had kept. "He was taking things that meant something to him..."

At this, Dumbledore said nothing, but continued after a short pause when Elizabeth seemed to leave her thoughts.

"And now for the very last recollection I have to show you, at least until Harry manages to retrieve Professor Slughorn's memory for us. Ten years separates Hokey's memory and this one, ten years during which we can only guess at what Lord Voldemort was doing..."

Elizabeth got to her feet once more as Dumbledore emptied the last memory into the Pensieve.

"Whose memory is it?" she asked.

"Mine."


	113. Get Lucky

Once more, Elizabeth dived after Dumbledore through the shifting silver mass in the Pensieve, landing in the very office she had just left. There was Fawkes slumbering happily on his perch, and there behind the desk was Dumbledore, who looked very similar to the Dumbledore standing beside Elizabeth, though both hands were whole and undamaged and his face was, perhaps, a little less lined. The one difference between the present-day office and this one was that it was snowing in the past; bluish flecks were drifting past the window in the dark and building up on the outside ledge.

The younger Dumbledore seemed to be waiting for something, and sure enough, moments after their arrival, there was a knock on the door and he told them to enter. Elizabeth tried hard not to gasp. Riddle had entered the room. His features were not those Elizabeth had seen emerge from the great stone cauldron almost two years ago; they were not as snakelike, the eyes were not yet scarlet, the face not yet mask-like, and yet, he was no longer the handsome Tom Riddle she had seen in the previous memory. The creation of Horcruxes had taken its toll on him. It was as though his features had been burned and blurred; they were waxy and oddly distorted, and the whites of the eyes now had a permanently bloody look, though the pupils were not yet the slits that Elizabeth knew they would become. He was wearing a long black cloak, and his face was as pale as the snow glistening on his shoulders.

The Dumbledore behind the desk showed no sign of surprise. Evidently this visit had been made by appointment.

"Good evening, Tom," Dumbledore said easily. "Won't you sit down?"

"Thank you," Voldemort said, and he took the seat to which Dumbledore had gestured - the very seat, by the looks of it, that Elizabeth had just vacated in the present. "I heard that you had become headmaster" he said, and his voice was slightly higher and colder than it had been. "A worthy choice."

"I am glad you approve," Dumbledore said, smiling. "May I offer you a drink?"

"That would be welcome," Voldemort said. "I have come a long way."

Dumbledore stood and swept over to the cabinet where he now kept the Pensieve, but which then was full of bottles. Having handed Voldemort a goblet of wine and poured one for himself, he returned to the seat behind his desk.

"So, Tom... to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Voldemort did not answer at once, but merely sipped his wine.

"They do not call me 'Tom' anymore," he said. "These days, I am known as-"

"I know what you are known as," said Dumbledore, smiling pleasantly. "But to me, I'm afraid, you will always be Tom Riddle. It is one of the irritating things about old teachers. I am afraid that they never quite forget their charges' youthful beginnings."

He raised his glass as though toasting Voldemort, whose face remained expressionless. Nevertheless, Elizabeth felt the atmosphere in the room change subtly: Dumbledore's refusal to use Voldemort's chosen name was a refusal to allow Voldemort to dictate the terms of the meeting, and Liz could tell that Voldemort took it as such.

"I am surprised you have remained here so long," Voldemort said after a short pause. "I always wondered why a wizard such as yourself never wished to leave school."

"Well," Dumbledore said, still smiling, "to a wizard such as myself, there can be nothing more important than passing on ancient skills, helping hone young minds. If I remember correctly, you once saw the attraction of teaching too."

"I see it still," Voldemort said. "I merely wondered why you - who are so often asked for advice by the Ministry, and who have twice, I think, been offered the post of Minister-"

"Three times at the last count, actually," Dumbledore said. "But the Ministry never attracted me as a career. Again, something we have in common, I think."

Voldemort inclined his head, unsmiling, and took another sip of wine. Dumbledore did not break the silence that stretched between them now, but waited, with a look of pleasant expectancy, for Voldemort to talk first.

"I have returned," he said, after a little while, "later, perhaps, than Professor Dippet expected... but I have returned, nevertheless, to request again what he once told me I was too young to have. I have come to you to ask that you permit me to return to this castle, to teach. I think you must know that I have seen and done much since I left this place. I could show and tell your students things they can gain from no other wizard."

Dumbledore considered Voldemort over the top of his own goblet for a while before speaking.

"Yes, I certainly do know that you have seen and done much since leaving us," he said quietly. "Rumors of your doings have reached your old school, Tom. I should be sorry to believe half of them."

Voldemort's expression remained impassive as he said, "Greatness inspires envy, envy engenders spite, spite spawns lies. You must know this, Dumbledore."

"You call it 'greatness', what you have been doing, do you?" Dumbledore asked delicately.

"Certainly," Voldemort said, and his eyes seemed to burn red. "I have experimented; I have pushed the boundaries of magic further, perhaps, than they have ever been pushed-"

"Of some kinds of magic," Dumbledore corrected him quietly. "Of some. Of others, you remain... forgive me... woefully ignorant."

For the first time, Voldemort smiled. It was a leer, an evil thing, more threatening than a look of rage.

"The old argument," he said softly. "But nothing I have seen in the world has supported your famous pronouncements that love is more powerful than my kind of magic, Dumbledore."

"Perhaps you have been looking in the wrong places," Dumbledore suggested.

""Well, then, what better place to start my fresh researches than here, at Hogwarts?" Voldemort said. "Will you let me return? Will you let me share my knowledge with your students? I place myself and my talents at your disposal. I am yours to command."

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows and said, "And what will become of those whom you command? What will happen to those who call themselves - or so rumor has it - the Death Eaters?"

Elizabeth could tell that Voldemort had not expected Dumbledore to know this name; she saw Voldemort's eyes flash red again and the slit-like nostrils flare.

"My friends," he said, after a moment's pause, "will carry on without me, I am sure."

"I am glad to hear that you consider them friends," Dumbledore said. "I was under the impression that they are more in the order of servants."

"You are mistaken," Voldemort said.

""Then if I were to go to the Hog's Head tonight, I would not find a group of them - Nott, Rosier, Mulciber, Dolohov - awaiting your return? Devoted friends indeed, to travel this far with you on a snowy night, merely to wish you luck as you attempted to secure a teaching post."

There could be no doubt that Dumbledore's detailed knowledge of those with whom he was traveling was even less welcome to Voldemort; however, he rallied almost at once.

"You are omniscient as ever, Dumbledore."

"Oh no, merely friendly with the local barmen," Dumbledore said lightly. "Now, Tom..." Dumbledore set down his empty glass and drew himself up in his seat, the tips of his fingers together in a very characteristic gesture. "Let us speak openly. Why have you come here tonight, surrounded by henchmen, to request a job we both know you do not want?"

Voldemort looked coldly surprised.

"A job I do not want? On the contrary, Dumbledore, I want it very much."

"Oh, you want to come back to Hogwarts, but you do not want to teach any more than you wanted to when you were eighteen. What is it you're after, Tom? Why not try an open request for once?"

Voldemort sneered, "If you do not want to give me a job-"

"Of course I don't," Dumbledore said. "And I don't think for a moment you expected me to. Nevertheless, you came here, you asked, you must have had a purpose."

Voldemort stood up. He looked less like Tom Riddle than ever, his features thick with rage.

"This is your final word?"

"It is," Dumbledore said, also standing.

"Then we have nothing more to say to each other."

"No, nothing," Dumbledore sighed, and a great sadness filled his face. "The time is long gone when I could frighten you with a burning wardrobe and force you to make repayment for your crimes. But I wish I could, Tom... I wish I could."

For a second, Elizabeth was sure that Voldemort's hand had twitched toward his pocket and his wand; but then the moment had passed, Voldemort had turned away, the door was closing, and he was gone. Liz felt Dumbledore's hand close over her arm again and moments later, they were standing together on almost the same spot, but there was no snow building on the window ledge, and Dumbledore's hand was blackened and dead-looking once more.

"Is this why people say the Defence Against the Dark Arts position is cursed? Because you didn't give the Dark Lord a job he didn't want?"

"I would not be surprised if that was the case, Elizabeth... I would not be surprised."

* * *

There had been a certain amount of excitement earlier when Elizabeth, Draco and Blaise had come back from dinner to find a new sign on the notice board that announced the date for their Apparition Test. Those who would be seventeen on or before the first test date (the twenty-first of April) had the option of signing up for additional practice sessions, which would take place in a heavily supervised setting in Hogsmeade. Zabini had panicked on reading this notice; he had still not managed to apparate and feared he would not be ready for the test. Elizabeth, who had now achieved apparition on several occasions, was confident, but Draco, who would not be seventeen for another four months, could not take the test whether ready or not. This, unfortunately for Draco, prompted much teasing.

"Ickle Drakey can't take his test like a big boy," Zabini laughed as he, Draco and Elizabeth were seated on the sofa nearest to the fireplace. "But his girlfwiend can!"

"Shut up, you twit," Elizabeth chuckled, "It's not my fault I just found out I'm old."

"Wait, so you're supposed to be in seventh year?"

"Technically, yeah."

"You are old," Draco smirked.

"And you're a child," Elizabeth retorted, sticking her tongue out at her boyfriend.

"Oh, yeah, I'm the child."

"Quit it for a second, I'm still confused," Zabini said. "Why aren't you in seventh year?"

"For Merlin's sake, Zabini, do I have to go through this, for real?" Elizabeth groaned, readjusting herself so Draco could wrap and arm around her shoulders. "I've already explained this far too many times."

"Come on, Evans! I'm not in the loop!"

Elizabeth sighed, then said, "Contrary to popular belief, I'm not my brother's twin; my mum had me with someone I still do not know the identity of a full year before Harry was born. When the Dark Lord killed James and our mother, Dumbledork decided it was best to keep Harry and I separate for our own safety. I grew up thinking I was Hermione Granger's twin sister until my third year when all went to shit."

"Dumbledork," Zabini snorted.

"Of everything I just said, you only retain 'Dumbledork'?" Elizabeth said exasperated. "Merlin's beard..."

The following day, Elizabeth had to spend time in the Room of Requirement. The reparation of the Vanishing Cabinet was a little more than halfway done, and the black Howlers1 that she was receiving almost daily in her dorm, from Bellatrix and the Dark Lord, threatening her and Draco were enough motivation for Liz to work harder, but it was also taking a toll on her studies as she wasn't able to properly focus on her classes as much as she used to.

As usual, Crabbe and Goyle were keeping watch outside, disguised as whatever Draco had thought of today. Also as usual, Elizabeth was making sure she wasn't being followed. Normally, there were no sounds at all on the seventh floor, but today, Liz could have sworn she heard the unmistakable sound of someone apparating. No witch or wizard could apparate or disapparate withing Hogwarts - it was impossible. House elves however... Bloody hell.

"Dobby! Kreacher!"

Two loud cracks sounded behind Elizabeth. She turned around to see tennis ball-sized bright eyes and large ears slightly covered by numerous knitted hats, as well as a dodgy loin-cloth that only the Black's house elf would be caught wearing.

"Elizabeth Evans called?" Dobby said, somewhat nervously.

"Harry's making you two tail me, isn't he?"

"Kreacher does not have to answer to a Half-Blood, muggle-lovin-"

"Kreacher, I may not be your master but it is in your best interest to answer my question," Elizabeth said sharply. "I have work to do and my master does not tolerate failure." Dobby let out a squeal. "Dobby, I forbid you from telling Harry what I have spoken and will speak about."

"Yes, Elizabeth Evans, anything," Dobby said almost difficultly.

"Is Kreacher understanding correctly? Kreacher's master's sister has a master of her own?" the house elf's chewed ears perked up. "Is Kreacher understanding that her master is-"

"Don't say it, Kreacher."

"Mistress would be so proud," Kreacher said as joyfully as Elizabeth had ever heard the elf speak. "Anything for Mistress Evans, anything."

Elizabeth looked at Kreacher almost sceptically. Could she really trust him? He was, after all, Harry's house elf. If her ever asked Kreacher about her, he would have to tell him. But Kreacher always spoke about his previous masters as if they were Gods - if Kreacher said his mistress would be proud of her, did that mean he was willing to trust her? Elizabeth sighed.

"Can I trust you, Kreacher?" Liz saw Dobby twitching violently.

"If Kreacher could make the Unbreakable Vow, Kreacher would, Mistress Evans."

"All right, I know you can't go against your master's wishes and that's okay, but can you keep an eye on Harry for me as well?"

"Kreacher can do that for Mistress, yes."

"And I don't want him finding out about this. So I don't want you telling Harry that I've spoken to you or Dobby, or what I've asked you to do, all right? And please, prevent Dobby from doing the same should he wish to tattle on me."

"Yes, Mistress," Kreacher said eagerly. "Does Mistress want regular reports, too, like Kreacher's blood-traitor master?"

"Yes, that would be great. Oh, and make sure that I am alone when you come visit me. Thank you, Kreacher, Mrs Black would be very proud of you," Elizabeth said.

"Kreacher is most welcome."

And with that, Dobby and Kreacher disapparated from their spot leaving Elizabeth to resume her illicit activities. A smirk reached her lips - the tables were turned on the Boy Who Lived... But not in the way one would think.

Kreacher came to Elizabeth the very next day on her way to Transfiguration. She had passed the abandoned girl's bathroom and had been tugged inside by the sleeve by Kreacher who was grinning evilly, most likely happy he was going to betray his master's privacy. The house elf gave his new mistress rather interesting news. Harry had not yet provided Dumbledore with the memory he was aching to get from Slughorn, and he was definitely the one who had suspected her and Draco of the poisoned mead and cursed necklace - not that he was wrong in any way.

It was no longer Dumbledore who was getting impatient, Liz too wanted to see that memory badly as she wanted to have as much of an advantage when in the same room as the Dark Lord, should the need for leverage ever arise. So, instead of scowling, glaring and tripping her brother in the hallway today, Elizabeth decided it was about time she helped her brother even though, if she was discovered, she could be killed on the spot. No matter, this was her brother we were talking about - besides, it would also get her faster access to that damn memory. But it would have to come later as she was expected in Defence Against the Dark Arts with her favourite professor. As predicted, Harry was late to class, probably trying to get the Room of Requirement to open up to the place Elizabeth went to (Kreacher said he would do this for hours on end), and, also as usual, Snape was not impressed.

"Late again, Potter," said Snape coldly, as Harry hurried into the candlelit classroom. "Ten points from Gryffindor."

Harry scowled at Snape and his smirking sister as he flung himself into the seat beside Ron.

"Before we start, I want your Dementor essays," Snape, waving his wand carelessly, so that twenty-six scrolls of parchment soared into the air and landed in a neat pile on his desk. "And I hope for your sakes they are better than the tripe I had to endure on resisting the Imperius Curse. Now, if you will all open your books to page - what is it, Mr Finnigan?"

"Sir," said Seamus, "I've been wondering, how do you tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost? Because there was something in the paper about an Inferius-"

"No, there wasn't," Snape said in a bored voice.

"But sir, I heard people talking-"

"If you had actually read the article in question, Mr Finnigan, you would have known that the so-called Inferius was nothing but a smelly sneak thief by the name of Mundungus Fletcher - But Potter seems to have a lot to say on the subject," Snape continued, pointing suddenly at the back of the room, his black eyes fixed on Harry. "Let us ask Potter how we would tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost."

The whole class looked around at Harry.

"Uh - well - ghosts are transparent... ?" he said.

"Oh, very good," Snape said, his lip curling. "Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter. 'Ghosts are transparent'."

Elizabeth let out and ugly snort, Pansy Parkinson let out a high-pitched giggle and several other people were smirking.

"Yeah, ghosts are transparent, but Inferi are dead bodies, aren't they? So they'd be solid-"

"A five-year-old could have told us as much," Elizabeth sneered. "The Inferius is a corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark wizard's spells. It isn't alive, it's merely used like a puppet to do the wizard's bidding. A ghost, on the other hand is the imprint of a departed soul left upon the earth... and is, of course, as you so wisely told us, transparent."

Harry glared at Elizabeth who, as usual, was smirking.

"Thank you, Miss Evans, however I'd appreciate it if you'd raise your hand next time."

"Well, what Harry said is the most useful if we're trying to tell them apart!" Ron said. "When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we're going to be having a shufti to see if it's solid, aren't we, we're not going to be asking, 'Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?'"

There was a ripple of quiet laughter, instantly hushed by the look Snape gave the class. Even Elizabeth had to stifle a laugh - she sometimes missed Ron's humour.

"Another ten points from Gryffindor," Snape said. "I would expect nothing more sophisticated from you, Ronald Weasley, the boy so solid he cannot apparate half an inch across a room. Now, open your books to page two hundred and thirteen, and read the first two pages on the Cruciatus Curse. I want a detailed report by next class."

Elizabeth had finished the report by the end of the week and was fully prepared to start helping Harry. She didn't have to do much, but she was still risking quite a bit - if she was ever caught, the Dark Lord would surely have her head. So, before dawn on Saturday, Elizabeth awoke and went over to her trunk to grab an extra quill and a spare bit of parchment, trying not to wake Aslan who was sleeping in one of the shirts Liz had borrowed from Draco. Sitting cross-legged on her bed, Ella lit her wand and held it over the parchment as she wrote a letter to Harry. She reread it a few times before getting dressed and discretely heading up to the Owlery, nearly running into Mrs Norris on her way up. Before she gave it to an Owl, Elizabeth ran her wand over the message to mess disguise her writing as someone else's and added an Everlasting Charm so that Hermione couldn't undo what she'd just done. She reread it one last time, sighed loudly and tied gave it to the Owl. Here goes nothing...

* * *

 _Dear Harry Potter,_

 _If you are trying to get a memory from Slughorn, I suggest you get lucky._

 _Yours truly,_

 _Your dearest friend._


	114. Mr Unbreakable Vow

"Who else knows what Dumbledore's been asking me to do?"

"I'd be worrying about their messaging technique if I were you, Harry."

"Please, it's a very simple riddle, you two - this person is telling Harry to use his Felix Felicis, of course."

"Oh... So they don't want Harry to get lucky - get lucky?"

If Harry, Ron and Hermione were truly trying to keep everything they were doing and everything Dumbledore had told Harry a secret, they weren't going to keep it secret for very long. Discussing this sensitive information at a study table full of students (most of which who were either Slytherin or Gryffindor) and out of the confines of their tower was not the best way to keep the knowledge of Horcruxes a secret - Elizabeth could hear them talking from the other end of the table. Had Harry not used or practised the Muffiliato charm that was written down in 'his' precious Potions book? At least, however, the trio had received her message and thank Merlin that Hermione was there to decipher the message - although it wasn't very hard to do so once you got passed the veiled joke about getting lucky. Elizabeth chuckled quietly at her brilliance. Draco cast her a side glance.

The girl put the finishing touches on her two feet of parchment for Transfiguration - on a spell known as Crinus Muto - and handed it in to McGonagall. She nodded in thanks and Ella was excused from the study hall. As she passed Draco, who was still writing in silence, she squeezed his shoulder reassuringly and walked towards the trio on her way out, hearing the last bits of a sentence that, of course, spoke ill of her and her boyfriend. She let out a sharp breath and her hands wrung themselves around the straps to her book bag.

Elizabeth headed towards the Dungeons to get her cloak, Draco's scarf and to pet Aslan before setting off towards Hogsmeade for her apparition examination. Blaise was waiting for her at the carriages and let her get on first, like a gentleman, but Liz suspected he had ulterior motives, and the seemingly horseless carriages got pulled away by eerie Thestrals, creatures that were only visible to those who had experienced and accepted death. Her mind was still on the Thestrals when they'd arrived at their examination, and they'd left almost as quickly. They simply told Liz to apparate from the Three Broomsticks to the front of Madam Puddifoot's Teashop - Elizabeth did this in mere seconds. It took Blaise a little longer, but only because there was a hold-up in front of the teashop - Susan Bones' leg had detached itself again.

When Elizabeth and Blaise had returned to the castle, cheeks and nose rosy from the cool spring air, they nearly bumped into Harry who was showing all the giddiness he could muster for one person, if not two or three; Liz recognised the symptoms. She was sure he'd drunk his entire phial of Felix Felicis. He'd apologised for nearly bumping into them - smiling wildly at his sister - and stalked off leaving a very confused Blaise behind him.

"What's his problem?" he asked.

"I suspect he's overcompensating for his rude behaviour lately," Liz shrugged, feigning innocence.

Just as she and Blaise parted ways, Elizabeth's barely-good mood was quickly snuffed when she saw Snape arguing with Draco again, most likely about his predicament with the Dark Lord and Snape's Vow. Snape's Vow. Ella hadn't realised how stupid of a decision it was until now. It was certain that Draco wasn't going to kill Dumbledore (Elizabeth would make sure of that), but it was still up for debate whether Elizabeth or Snape was going to carry out the deed. Of course, Elizabeth was asked by both Dumbledore and the Dark Lord, but Snape had been asked by Narcissa Malfoy to keep her son safe and carry out his work, by means of an Unbreakable Vow. And if that vow was broken... Snape died. It was a stupid decision, really.

As she was approaching, Draco stalked off without even noticing Elizabeth coming his way and went down to the Dungeons where she'd surely find him sulking later. Snape remained in place, nearly fuming, but there was an obvious look of concern shining his eyes. He turned to her, ink-like eyes gleaming with the same concern.

"Elizabeth, I ask of you to press upon Draco the importance my help-"

"Yeah, well, you should've thought of that before you got yourself in an Unbreakable Vow," Elizabeth said, more rude than she'd anticipated.

"Excuse me?" Snape said, also surprised by her tone.

"It was a very stupid move on your part."

"Do you realise who you are speaking to?"

"Yes, I do. I'm speaking to Severus Snape, my favourite professor and my Head of House, a man that I've practically worshipped since I set foot in his classroom on my first day at Hogwarts," Elizabeth said coolly. "However, right now, I am speaking to Severus Snape, an ex-Death Eater who just so happens to be my spying partner and - if I may be so bold - my friend. Therefore I have the luxury of speaking to you as a friend." She paused. "It was a stupid move. You realise that if Draco doesn't do it, I will and that if I kill Dumbledore you might die, depending on how this stupid Vow wants to work."

"Then it's clear that I must do it," Snape said after a moment of studying the girl's face.

"Not going to happen. Dumbledore has asked me, the Dark Lord has asked me; it's not my problem you went and got yourself stuck between a rock and an Unbreakable Vow."

"May I explain myself or will you simply interrupt me so I can listen to you complain about it?"

It felt odd being asked permission to speak by her professor - usually it was the other way around. Elizabeth would have made smart comment and chuckled had the two not been in a rather serious situation. The girl inclined her head no more than a centimetre - the subtlest of nods. The two began walking down the hall together, talking quietly and stopping when a nosy student passed or when Elizabeth had to confiscate more Fanged Frisbees.

"Narcissa Malfoy arrived at my residence during the summer. Had she been alone, I would have refused, no matter how much I would have wanted to protect Draco - I was aware of Dumbledore's plan and wouldn't allow it to be spoiled for the sake of a sixteen year old boy. However, Narcissa arrived with her sister, Bellatrix Lestrange."

"Say no more," Elizabeth sighed, raising her hands in defence. She felt bad for snapping at him now. "It was to keep your cover, right? To prove to Bellatrix that the Dark Lord had a reason to trust you?" He nodded once. "She still doesn't trust you after all this time?"

"I'm afraid not," Snape said. "I have not the luxury of being a moldable young mind like you, and when we were both young, she had no reason not to trust me - I was faithful to him back then. Now, she resents me for not trying harder to get the Dark Lord back. She believes - correctly, of course - that my loyalties lie with someone other than her master."

"But you've been able to dissuade her doubts." It was more of a question rather than a statement, really.

"Not entirely - I will never be trustworthy to her, but I believe that I have removed most of her doubts," Snape said calmly. "You, on the other hand, she trusts almost too much..."

"I know," Elizabeth sighed, rubbing her Mark absent-minded. "She thinks that I'm eager to learn and to practise. Learn maybe, but practise?" A shadow passed over the girl's face. "The things that I've done..."

"What have you done?"

"I'd rather not say. Even Draco doesn't know the extend of what the Dark Lord and Bellatrix have taught me... made me do... done to me." Elizabeth looked down at her hands. "I can't tell him; he's got other things to worry about, more important things. Don't look at me like that, I can very well take care of myself." Snape had cast her sceptical look. "I don't need anyone's protection and there's no reason for me to start seeking aid, now, either - I've already got one foot in the grave, as the expression goes. So do you, Mr Unbreakable Vow."

Snape chuckled, which was a rare thing to see for Elizabeth, as she'd never really directed humour towards her Head of House. But it was an odd time to chuckle, and an odd time for Elizabeth to smile - they were talking about death after all. The two had stopped in front of Snape's office.

"Look, I can't stop you from carrying out the deed if you want to, but I'm going to do everything I can to carry it out myself."

"I respect your decision, although I do not approve of it."

"Yeah, well you can blame Dumbledore and his stupid plan," Elizabeth smiled halfheartedly, leaning against the wall. "If it wasn't for him, I'd still be hanging out with my brother and trying to get Slughorn to spill the beans."

"Professor Slughorn," Snape corrected.

"Oh, shut up. He's a twit and you know it."

"I can neither confirm nor deny that statement."

"Unbelievable."

Shaking her head but smiling, Elizabeth pushed off the wall and began walking away. She was halfway down the hall when Snape called her name. She turned around to face him and raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Be careful," he said simply. Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "I ask this as your friend."

Ella let out a short and smiled a little, "Yeah, sure... for a friend."

The next morning, as Elizabeth was quietly sipping her tea, an owl dropped a scroll of parchment onto her empty plate. It had the same wax seal and ribbon as all the other scrolls from Dumbledore, and she didn't even need to open it to know that her tip to Harry and gotten him the memory she and Dumbledore desperately wanted. And so, at dusk that same day, Elizabeth made the Gargoyle leap aside at the mention of Cockroach Clusters and nearly ran up to Dumbledore's office.

"Good evening, Elizabeth," the man said and gestured for her to take a seat. "Eager to see the memory Harry has so expertly provided for us?"

"'Expertly provided'," the girl scoffed. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

"Well, so expertly provided after a small hint, then?"

Elizabeth smiled, "Shall we?"

Both Dumbledore and Elizabeth bent over the Pensieve and felt their feet leave the office floor. Once again Ella fell through darkness and landed in Horace Slughorn's office many years before. There was the much younger Slughorn, with his thick, shiny, straw-colored hair and his gingery-blond mustache, sitting again in the comfortable winged armchair in his office, his feet resting upon a velvet pouffe, a small glass of wine in one hand, the other rummaging in a box of crystallised pineapple. And there were the half-dozen teenage boys sitting around Slughorn with Tom Riddle in the midst of them, Marvolo's gold and black ring gleaming on his finger.

"Sir, is it true that Professor Merrythought is retiring?"

"Tom, Tom, if I knew I couldn't tell you," Slughorn said, wagging his finger reprovingly at Riddle, though winking at the same time. "I must say, I'd like to know where you get your information, boy, more knowledgeable than half the staff, you are." Riddle smiled; the other boys laughed and cast him admiring looks. "What with your uncanny ability to know things you shouldn't, and your careful flattery of the people who matter - thank you for the pineapple, by the way, you're quite right, it is my favorite-" Several of the boys tittered again. "-I confidently expect you to rise to Minister of Magic within twenty years. Fifteen, if you keep sending me pineapple, I have excellent contacts at the Ministry."

Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed again. Elizabeth noticed that he was by no means the eldest of the group of boys, but that they all seemed to look to him as their leader.

"I don't know that politics would suit me, sir," he said when the laughter had died away. "I don't have the right kind of background, for one thing."

"Nonsense," Slughorn said briskly, "couldn't be plainer you come from decent Wizarding stock, abilities like yours. No, you'll go far, Tom, I've never been wrong about a student yet."

The small golden clock standing upon Slughorn's desk chimed eleven o'clock behind him and he looked around.

"Good gracious, is it that time already? You'd better get going, boys, or we'll all be in trouble. Lestrange, I want your essay by tomorrow or it's detention. Same goes for you, Avery."

One by one, the boys filed out of the room. Slughorn heaved himself out of his armchair and carried his empty glass over to his desk. A movement behind him made him look around; Riddle was still standing there.

"Look sharp, Tom, you don't want to be caught out of bed out of hours, and you a prefect..."

"Sir, I wanted to ask you something."

"Ask away, then, m'boy, ask away..."

"Sir, I wondered what you know about Horcruxes?"

Slughorn stared at him, his thick fingers absentmindedly caressing the stem of his wine glass.

"Project for Defense Against the Dark Arts, is it?" But Elizabeth could tell that Slughorn knew perfectly well that this was not schoolwork.

"Not exactly, sir," said Riddle. "I came across the term while reading and I didn't fully understand it."

"No... well... you'd be hard-pushed to find a book at Hogwarts that'll give you details on Horcruxes, Tom, that's very Dark stuff, very Dark indeed," Slughorn said.

"But you obviously know all about them, sir? I mean, a wizard like you - sorry, I mean, if you can't tell me, obviously - I just knew if anyone could tell me, you could - so I just thought I'd ask."

It was very well done, Elizabeth thought, not so much different than what she'd have done had she been in his position; the casual tone, the careful flattery, none of it overdone. Elizabeth had had too much experience of trying to wheedle information out of reluctant people not to recognize a master at work. She could tell that Riddle wanted the information very, very much; perhaps had been working toward this moment for weeks.

"Well," Slughorn said, not looking at Riddle, but fiddling with the ribbon on top of his box of crystallised pineapple, "well, it can't hurt to give you an overview, of course. Just so that you understand the term... A Horcrux is the word used for an object in which a person has concealed part of their soul."

"I don't quite understand how that works, though, sir," Riddle said, his voice carefully controlled, but Liz could sense his excitement.

"Well, you split your soul, you see," Slughorn continued, "and hide part of it in an object outside the body. Then, even if one's body is attacked or destroyed, one cannot die, for part of the soul remains earthbound and undamaged. But of course, existence in such a form..."

Slughorn's face crumpled and Elizabeth found herself remembering words she had heard nearly two years before: "I was ripped from my body, I was less than spirit, less than the meanest ghost... but still, I was alive."

"... few would want it, Tom, very few. Death would be preferable."

But Riddle's hunger was now apparent; his expression was greedy, he could no longer hide his longing.

"How do you split your soul?"

"Well," Slughorn said uncomfortably, "you must understand that the soul is supposed to remain intact and whole. Splitting it is an act of violation, it is against nature."

"But how do you do it?"

"By an act of evil - the supreme act of evil. By committing murder. Killing rips the soul apart. The wizard intent upon creating a Horcrux would use the damage to his advantage: he would encase the torn portion-"

"Encase? But how?"

"There is a spell, do not ask me, I don't know!" Slughorn said, shaking his head like an old elephant bothered by mosquitoes. "Do I look as though I have tried it - do I look like a killer?"

"No, sir, of course not," Riddle said quickly. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to offend."

"Not at all, not at all, not offended," Slughorn said gruffly. "It's natural to feel some curiosity about these things. Wizards of a certain caliber have always been drawn to that aspect of magic..."

"Yes, sir," Riddle said. "What I don't understand, though - just out of curiosity - I mean, would one Horcrux be much use? Can you only split your soul once? Wouldn't it be better, make you stronger, to have your soul in more pieces, I mean, for instance, isn't seven the most powerfully magical number, wouldn't seven-"

"Merlin's beard, Tom!" Slughorn yelped. "Seven! Isn't it bad enough to think of killing one person? And in any case... bad enough to divide the soul... but to rip it into seven pieces..."

Slughorn looked deeply troubled now. He was gazing at Riddle as though he had never seen him plainly before, and Elizabeth could tell that he was regretting entering into the conversation at all.

"Of course," he muttered, "this is all hypothetical, what we're discussing, isn't it? All academic..."

"Yes, sir, of course," Riddle said quickly.

"But all the same, Tom... keep it quiet, what I've told - that's to say, what we've discussed. People wouldn't like to think we've been chatting about Horcruxes. It's a banned subject at Hogwarts, you know... Dumbledore's particularly fierce about it."

"I won't say a word, sir," Riddle said, and left, but not before Ella had glimpsed his face, which was full of that same wild happiness it had worn when he had first found out that he was a wizard, the sort of happiness that did not enhance his handsome features, but made them, somehow, less human...

"Let us go..." Dumbledore said and tugged Elizabeth behind the elbow.

When Liz landed back on the office floor Dumbledore was already sitting down behind his desk. She sat too, nearly floored about the information she had just seen.

"Seven? He created seven Horcruxes? No wonder he imploded when he tried to kill Harry..." Elizabeth breathed. "To stretch the soul that far..."

"Four years ago, I received what I considered certain proof that Voldemort had split his soul," Dumbledore said.

"His diary, right?" Dumbledore nodded. "But that book wasn't just a Horcrux, was it?"

"Indeed. What intrigued and alarmed me most was that that diary had been intended as a weapon as much as a safeguard."

"He wanted the diary to be read... He wanted people to know that He was the Heir of Slytherin, because he couldn't take credit at the time."

"And because he had given it up so carelessly, it suggested that he must have made - or had been planning to make - more Horcruxes, so that the loss of his first would not be so detrimental."

"And He made seven of them," Elizabeth said, disgusted yet fascinated at the same time. "And they could be anywhere in the world; hidden, buried, invisible-"

"I am glad to see you appreciate the magnitude of the problem," Dumbledore said calmly "But firstly, no, Elizabeth, not seven Horcruxes: six. The seventh part of his soul, however maimed, resides inside his regenerated body. That was the part of him that lived a spectral existence for so many years during his exile; without that, he has no self at all. That seventh piece of soul will be the last that anybody wishing to kill Voldemort-" Elizabeth visibly flinched at the name. "-must attack: the piece that lives in his body."

"And now will you tell me about that stupid ring?" Elizabeth said, irritated. "It is plain to me that is was a Horcrux before you activated the curse and killed the soul inside the ring."

"Marvolo's ring, yes. And a terrible curse there was upon it too. Had it not been - forgive me the lack of seemly modesty - for my own prodigious skill, and for Professor Snape's timely action when I returned to Hogwarts, desperately injured, I might not have lived to tell the tale." The girl felt a rush of pride and admiration for her Head of House. "However, a withered hand does not seem an unreasonable exchange for a seventh of Voldemort's soul. The ring is no longer a Horcrux.

"I stumbled across the ring hidden in the ruin of the Gaunts' house. It seems that once Voldemort had succeeded in sealing a piece of his soul inside it, he did not want to wear it anymore. He hid it, protected by many powerful enchantments, in the shack where his ancestors had once lived, never guessing that I might one day take the trouble to visit the ruin, or that I might be keeping an eye open for traces of magical concealment.

"However, we should not congratulate ourselves too heartily. Your brother destroyed the diary and I the ring, but if we are right in our theory of a seven-part soul, four Horcruxes remain."

"And they could be anything... But I'm quite certain - having spent to much time with that man - that he would have chosen objects with a powerful magical history," Elizabeth said more to herself, than to Dumbledore. "The diary, the ring... Helga Hufflepuff's goblets, Slytherin's locket..."

"Yes," Dumbledore said, smiling, "I would be prepared to bet - perhaps not my other hand - but a couple of fingers, that they became Horcruxes three and four. The remaining two, assuming again that he created a total of six, are more of a problem, but I will hazard a guess that, having secured objects from Hufflepuff and Slytherin, he set out to track down objects owned by Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. Four objects from the four founders would, I am sure, have exerted a powerful pull over Voldemort's imagination."

"The only Gryffindor relic I can think of is the sword you keep safe," Elizabeth said, glancing up at the ruby-encrusted sword reposing in a glass case. "Ravenclaw? I haven't the faintest..."

"Even if he got something of Ravenclaw's, that leaves a sixth Horcrux," Dumbledore said. "And I think I know what the sixth Horcrux is. I wonder what you will say when I confess that I have been curious for a while about the behavior of the snake, Nagini?"

"The Dark Lord's snake?" She thought for a moment. "She does underline the Slytherin connection he very much prizes, and he does keep her very close... He can also keep control of her, Him being a Parselmouth and all." Elizabeth paused. "So," she continued, "the diary's gone, the ring's gone. The cup, the locket, and the snake are still intact, and you think there might be a Horcrux that was once Ravenclaw's or Gryffindor's?"

"An admirably succinct and accurate summary, yes," Dumbledore said, bowing his head. "Are you still looking for them? Is that where you've been off to these days?"

"Correct," Dumbledore said. "I have been looking for a very long time. I think... perhaps... I may be close to finding another one. There are hopeful signs."

Elizabeth nodded slowly. She almost asked if she could go with him, to help him destroy the foul thing, but she decided against it; Dumbledore had enough of Elizabeth's help already and it infuriated her that he kept making it harder and harder for her to just kill him. Sometimes she wondered how she was able to resist killing him on a whim, after she had yelled at him, beyond angry that he had been using her against her better judgement.

"Does He know when a Horcrux is destroyed, sir? Can he feel it?" Elizabeth asked.

"A very interesting question, Elizabeth. I believe not. I believe that Voldemort is now so immersed in evil, and these crucial parts of himself have been detached for so long, he does not feel as we do," Dumbledore said, and Elizabeth couldn't help but be disappointed. A part of her wanted Him to suffer just as much as she was. "Perhaps, at the point of death, he might be aware of his loss, but he was not aware, for instance, that the diary had been destroyed until he forced the truth out of Lucius Malfoy. When Voldemort discovered that the diary had been mutilated and robbed of all its powers, I am told that his anger was terrible to behold."

"I've seen that anger," Elizabeth said casually, as if her words held little meaning "It would have been less horrifying, I'm sure, had Lucius waited for the Dark Lord's say-so to smuggling that thing into Hogwarts. Mind you, he wouldn't have done it had he thought there was a chance that He'd be back."

"Ah, poor Lucius..." Dumbledore sighed, "what with Voldemort's fury about the fact that he threw away the Horcrux for his own gain, and the fiasco at the Ministry last year, I would not be surprised if he is not secretly glad to be safe in Azkaban at the moment."

Elizabeth looked at Dumbledore blankly, avoiding his gaze; she didn't want him delving into her memories by means of Legilimency, but she had a feeling that he knew that Lucius was no longer in Azkaban. Instead, she changed the subject.

"So, without his Horcruxes, the Dark Lord will die? For good, this time?"

"Yes, I think so," Dumbledore said. "Without his Horcruxes, Voldemort will be a mortal man with a maimed and diminished soul. Never forget, though, that while his soul may be damaged beyond repair, his brain and his magical powers remain intact. It will take uncommon skill and power to kill a wizard like Voldemort even without his Horcruxes."

"And you're asking a sixteen year old boy to do it? Harry hasn't got that 'uncommon skill and power'," Elizabeth asked angrily.

"Yes, he has," Dumbledore said firmly. "You and Him both have a power that Voldemort has never had. You can-"

"I know!" Elizabeth said impatiently. "We can love; big deal!"

"Yes, Elizabeth, you can love," Dumbledore said calmly, although he looked as though he would have preferred the girl not added 'big deal' at the end of her sentence. "Which, given everything that has happened to you, is a great and remarkable thing. You are still too young to understand how unusual you are, Elizabeth."

"Then tell me, damn it!" Elizabeth shouted, rising abruptly from he chair. "Tell me who my father is! Tell me why it is that I'm spying for you exactly! Tell me why I have to be the one to kill you and not Professor Snape, whom I believe is a better candidate for the job since he got himself stuck in an Unbreakable Vow!"

"As I have said in the past, your lineage is not my concern. You will find out who your father is when the time is right," Dumbledore said impatiently. "You are spying for me to help your father, and you must be the one to kill me. That is the end of this argument."

Elizabeth stood in front of his desk, positively fuming. Even the portraits on the wall seemed to be disappointed in the Headmaster for not telling the girl what she wanted to hear. After all, she was risking her life for the sake of his little old plan.

"Fine. But answer this: why is it that my brother must be the one to die when we were both hit with the same curse? Because it isn't just him who has a scar and the 'ability' to love, Dumbledore. If this has got anything to do with that damn Prophecy-"

"Never forget that what the Prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort-"

"Stop saying His name! I don't want to hear it anymore!" Elizabeth snapped. "For God's sake, just say 'Riddle' or 'Tom'."

"Never forget that what the Prophecy says is only significant because Voldemort made it so," Dumbledore said, ignoring the girl's glare and her clenched fists. "I told you this at the end of last year. Voldemort singled your brother out as the person who would be most dangerous to him — and in doing so, he made him the person who would be most dangerous to him!"

"But it comes to the same-"

"No, it doesn't!" Dumbledore said, sounding impatient again. Pointing at Elizabeth with his black, withered hand, he said, "You are setting too much store by the prophecy!"

"You're the one who said the Prophecy meant-"

"If Voldemort had never heard of the prophecy, would it have been fulfilled? Would it have meant anything? Of course not! Do you think every prophecy in the Hall of Prophecy has been fulfilled?"

"You clearly said that one would have to kill the other in order to survive"

"Only because Voldemort made a grave error, and acted on Professor Trelawney's words! If Voldemort had never murdered James Potter, would he have imparted in Harry a furious desire for revenge? Of course not! If he had not forced your mother to die for Harry (because yes she knew about the Prophecy about her son), would he have given your brother magical protection he could not penetrate? Of course not, ! Don't you see? Voldemort himself created his worst enemy, just as tyrants everywhere do! Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back! Voldemort is no different! Always he was on the lookout for the one who would challenge him. He heard the prophecy and he leapt into action, with the result that he not only handpicked the man most likely to finish him, he handed him uniquely deadly weapons!

"It is essential that you understand this!" Dumbledore said, standing up and striding about the room, his glittering robes swooshing in his wake; Elizabeth had never seen him so agitated. "By attempting to kill Harry, Voldemort himself singled out the remarkable person with uncommon skill and power, and gave him the tools for the job! He had not meant for you to get hit by the curse, which means that he didn't single you out. It is only your brother! It is Voldemort's fault that you and Harry were able to see into his thoughts, his ambitions, that you even understand the snakelike language in which he gives orders, and yet, Elizabeth, despite yours and your brother's privileged insight into Voldemort's world (which, incidentally, is a gift any Death Eater would kill to have), you have never been seduced by the Dark Arts-"

"That is not true! I've always found them fascinating!" Elizabeth said indignantly.

"But you have never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort''s followers!"

"Of course I haven't! He killed my mum! The only reason I am one of his stupid followers is because of you!"

"You and Harry are protected, in short, by your ability to love!" Dumbledore said loudly. "The only protection that can possibly work against the lure of power like Voldemort's! In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart, just as pure as you were at the age of eleven, when you stared into a mirror that reflected your heart's desire, and it showed you only the way to thwart Lord Voldemort, and not immortality or riches - but love. Elizabeth, have you any idea how few wizards could have seen what you and Harry saw in that mirror? Voldemort should have known then what he was dealing with, but he did not!

"But he knows it now. You two have flitted into Lord Voldemort's mind without damage to yourself, but he cannot possess Harry without enduring mortal agony, as he discovered in the Ministry. I do not think he understands why, but then, he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the incomparable power of a soul that is untarnished and whole."

"Fine. Harry's the 'Chosen One'." Elizabeth said, making valiant efforts not to sound argumentative anymore. " But it all comes to the same thing, doesn't it? He's got to try and kill him, or-"

"Got to?" Dumbledore said. "Of course he's got to! But not because of the Prophecy! Because Harry, himself, will never rest until he's tried! We both know it! Imagine, please, just for a moment, that you had never heard that prophecy! How would you feel about Voldemort now? Think!"

Elizabeth watched Dumbledore striding up and down in front of her, and thought. She thought of her mother, and the sparkle leaving her bright green eyes as Avada Kedavra hit her. She thought of her father, who seemed to be in a rather dangerous situation because of the Dark Lord (and because of Dumbledore). She thought of Amir, and the lazy grin she'd never see again. She thought of Sirius, and the pain Harry went - and is going - through. She thought of Cedric Diggory, and kindness she never knew he had until the very end. She thought of all the terrible deeds she knew the Dark Lord and his followers had done, the number of lives they'd snuffed out. She thought of all the things that He had made her do. All the terrible things... The people she'd tortured, the Muggles she'd tested her cursework on, the witches and wizards whom she left to die... She thought of the pain she'd endured and all the times she'd been attacked with Cruciatus Curse for having so much as an opinion that was slightly different from His own. She thought of Draco, and a flame seemed to leap inside her chest... She thought of the threat to the one she loved most.

"I'd want him dead," Elizabeth said quietly. "And I'd want to do it."

"Of course you would! And it's the same for Harry!" Dumbledore cried. "You see, the Prophecy does not mean that Harry has to do anything. But the Prophecy caused Lord Voldemort to mark him as his equal... In other words, he is free to chose his way, quite free to turn his back on the Prophecy. But Voldemort continues to set store by it. He will continue to hunt your brother, which makes it certain, really, that-"

"That one is going to kill the other."

"Yes."

But she understood at last what Dumbledore had been trying to tell her, to tell Harry. It was, she thought, the difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there was little to choose between the two ways, but Elizabeth knew, with a rush of sadness and fear, that Harry had to die willingly... and that was all the difference in the world.


	115. Sectumsempra

The only thing that could be heard at breakfast was the intense sobbing of Lavender Brown coming from the Gryffindor table. Ron and Lavender had split up and she was heartbroken. Elizabeth had forgotten that Ron and Lavender were in a relationship - they hadn't spoken in so long that she stopped thinking about him, Hermione and Harry, as well as Neville, Luna and Ginny. Speaking of Ginny, she and Dean had also split up - all in all, it was a pretty horrid week for romance. Even Draco and Elizabeth were having a rough patch, but that was only because of their sure doom and the Dark Lord's wrath looming over them. Lately, Draco had been even more unlike himself; there was no arrogance at all, no more jokes and almost no smiles. He seemed to be spending more time indoors and in the library that he'd care to admit and now, most nights, he fell asleep crying in his girlfriend's arms. Elizabeth tried to stay strong, but once in a while, she too shed a few tears that were quickly wiped away as to not be noticed - she had to stay strong for herself, for Draco.

The only good news that came to Elizabeth's ears was that Katie Bell was out of St Mungo's with no clue who had given her the necklace; it put Draco's mind at ease for a short while. The news that her exams and studies were going well didn't mean much to Elizabeth lately, and their wins against Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff weren't doing much to lift her spirits anymore, either. Even their loss to Gryffindor and the loss of the Quidditch Cup didn't affect her as much as she thought it would, though the rest of the team was devastated for the entire week. All in all, both Elizabeth and Draco felt worse that a dead leaf in the gutter. However, it brought her a little relief to hear that Harry was still unable to find out what she was up to, as Kreacher came to tell her once every other day - she was still weary of his loyalty, but she was weary of everyone's loyalty lately, and found it harder to trust people even more than usual. The hold that the Dark Lord had on her was doing damage.

Today was no different. Once again, Snape tried to press the importance of his aid, but Draco wasn't having any of it. As usual he dashed off, but he hid in the nearest bathroom. Elizabeth sent a pointed look at her professor and sighed, turning to run after her boyfriend. Of course, he had to go in the boy's bathroom because, one, he was a boy, and two, because he thought that Elizabeth wouldn't follow him in. He was wrong. Ella hesitated at the door, debating whether it was worth it or if Draco would simply brush her off, convincing her (himself more than anything else) that he was fine. Finally, Elizabeth burst through the door to find Draco leaning on one of the sinks and staring at his pale reflection, tears falling freely from his grey eyes. He looked up, saw her reflection in the mirror and looked back down, avoiding her gaze. Suddenly, floating out of a corner, came Moaning Myrtle, looking more distraught than usual.

"What's-"

"Don't Myrtle, not now," Ella said softly, walking towards Draco.

"But I want to help," she replied.

"No one can help me," Draco said, his body shaking. Liz ran a hand up and down his back, trying not to burst into tears as well. "Ella, Love, you were right... I can't - I can't do this. I don't want to do it, but if I don't do it soon... He'll kill them, Ella, He'll do it right in front of me."

Elizabeth sighed and wrapped her arms around his middle, pressing her cheek into his shoulder and looking at his reflection in the mirror. But she raised immediately with a gasp, making Draco do the same - Harry was standing at the door. Instinctively, Draco wheeled around, drawing his wand. Harry and Elizabeth pulled out their own. Malfoy's hex missed Harry by inches, shattering the lamp on the wall beside him; he threw himself sideways, and flicked his wand, but Elizabeth blocked his non-verbal jinx and raised her wand for another.

"No! No! Stop it!" Moaning Myrtle squealed, her voice echoing loudly around the tiled room. "Stop! STOP!"

There was a loud bang and the bin behind Harry exploded; he attempted a Leg-Locker Curse that backfired off the wall behind Elizabeth's ear and smashed the cistern beneath Moaning Myrtle, who screamed loudly. Water poured everywhere and Harry slipped as Malfoy, his face contorted, began to shout another spell.

"Cruci-"

"SECTUMSEMPRA!"

Elizabeth didn't even think twice about pushing Draco out of the way. As he landed on the water-clogged floor with a great splash, the pure white jet of light coming out of Harry's wand hit his own sister square in the chest. She staggered backwards and fell into the water, wand falling from her limp hand. Blood spurted from her chest and face as though she'd been slashed with an invisible sword. Elizabeth felt cold, but the pain was searing hot and covering every inch of her body - this is what her 'victims' felt.

Malfoy sat up immediately, scrambling to get to his bleeding girlfriend and cursing profusely. He wasn't even paying attention to Moaning Myrtle screaming about a murder in the bathroom or Harry staring down at Elizabeth, horrified at what he'd done, horrified at the image of his sister shaking in a pool of her own blood, Draco Malfoy clinging onto her desperately. He'd done the very thing Elizabeth and Hermione were worried about: he'd used a spell without knowing what it did; he'd used the spell that Liz cast on Travers at the Department of Mysteries - he knew that now.

But what would he think? Would Harry assume that Elizabeth knew the owner of the book? Would he come searching for answers? Hermione surely would. After all, she was convinced that the owner of that book was evil, so why would Elizabeth have known a spell inside it? Would she and Ron and Harry think that Elizabeth was taught the spell by the Death Eaters that Harry was so convinced she was siding with, by the owner of the book himself? What would they think of her now? Were her friends going to think she'd gone bad? Did it no longer matter that the glimmer of trust Hermione had in Elizabeth existed? Would it be snuffed out like the flame of a candle in the wind? Was Harry finally going to be able to convince Hermione and Ron that his own sister was the enemy? They had all the evidence they needed, after all... the memory of seeing Elizabeth kill a man in the Department of Mysteries was all they needed.

Ella began coughing up blood, the scarlet liquid trickling down the side of her mouth. Her vision became blurry, the bathroom covered in black spots, and the pain was so intense it began numbing her body. Suddenly, she heard a loud noise and the unmistakable sound of Vulnera Sanentur being repeated over her. She felt her own blood rush back into her body, feeling less and less weak by the second. She felt her skin crawl and tighten, her wounds closing up slowly. Soon, she was able to breathe properly again, and though she was still dizzy, she could clearly see Draco holding her tightly, covered in her blood, and Snape tracing her figure with his wand.

"She needs the Hospital wing," Elizabeth heard Snape said, voice laced with concern and anger. "There may be scarring, but that may be avoided with Dittany."

But considering all the other cuts and slashes that were previously soaked in Essence of Dittany, Elizabeth doubted that she could avoid the scarring of Sectumsempra. Draco brought her to a half-stand then swung her into his arms, without so much as a groan of pain or protest, though the pain was by no means gone and she was convinced she would have been able to walk. As Snape, Draco and herself left the room, the girl's green eyes surveyed her horror-stricken brother, glued to the spot where he stood because of guilt and fear, looking down at the sea of blood-tinted water.

Draco entered the Hospital Wing first and wordlessly placed Elizabeth on one of the beds as Snape marched in and began shouting something at Madam Pomfrey. He left as soon as he came, back to Harry whom he had demanded staying put so he could, mostly likely, knock some sense into him - or so Elizabeth hoped. As Madam Pomfrey came scurrying into the room, bottle of Dittany in hand, Draco nervously paced the room, clothes soaked in his girlfriend's blood. The matron pulled the curtain around Elizabeth's bed, shielding her from the prying eyes of other students in the Hospital Wing, as she removed her neck-tie and unbuttoned her shirt, exposing her corset. Ella hissed as Poppy Pomfrey dripped the Dittany on the wounds littering her face, but screamed as she poured some over the larger and deeper wounds on her stomach and chest. Draco could do nothing but listen, curtain and matron preventing him from rushing over.

A sleeping potion was given to her after Madam Pomfrey had, grudgingly so, exited the confines of the curtain so Elizabeth could change into ward clothes without her seeing the Dark Mark on her left arm. Once the girl was settled down, the curtain was removed and Draco came forward, still in the same clothes, and gazed down at his sleeping girlfriend. The usual pale and faded scars were still there, but seemed invisible compared to the fresh pink ones that were still healing. Elizabeth looked more and more like Remus Lupin with every scar that was added to her 'collection'; she no longer only had the lip scar and the barely noticeable one on her cheekbone, but two more (on her jaw and her left cheek) and few little nicks were shining in the candlelight - now, her face was just as scarred as Lupin's. And though he couldn't see through the blue material of her shirt, Draco could see glistening scars poking out from the shirt's neckline, and he just knew that there were probably a dozen more scars on her frail body; scars that he knew she would hate for the rest of her life.

Elizabeth was woken up the next day by the unmistakable sound of people arguing. Draco was nowhere to be found, thankfully for him and Elizabeth, but Harry, Hemione, Ron and Ginny were at the girl's bedside, arguing amongst each other for reasons unknown. Liz moved and tried to sit up, which made Harry's head snap in her direction, a pitying look on his face.

"I sit by myself, thank you," Ella said sharply, as Harry tried to help her.

"I'm just trying to-"

"To help? I think you've helped me enough, Potter."

Silence ensued. Where was Poppy Pomfrey when you needed people to be shooed out? Liz thought, as she glared at her brother. He broke the quiet.

"I'm sorry."

"Go stick your apology up your arse, Harry," Elizabeth snapped. "I don't know what was going through your mind, trying to use that spell on Draco."

"I don't know what was going through your mind when you used it on that Death Eater!" Harry retorted angrily.

"His death. That's what was on my mind." Everyone went silent. "Hermione's been telling you all year that that stupid book of yours was going to get you in trouble, and look what happened!"

"How'd you know about-"

"I have ears, you blithering idiot! I hear things!"

"No," Harry said slowly, "how'd you know that the spell was in the book?"

Elizabeth exhaled slowly and avoided looking at Hermione, who tensed.

"It's called a Disillusionment Spell, Harry, maybe you should read a little."

"You snuck into our Common Room?" Ron shouted. "You snuck into our dorm!"

"It's not hard, really. You Gryffindors are so blissfully unaware that Neville still looses that password paper of his all the time."

"You snuck in to get that book?" Harry said in disbelief.

"Of course, I did. It wasn't natural for you to have a sudden knack in Potions, and that book was the only explanation," Elizabeth said, crossing her arms indignantly.

Ron and Harry were about to protest but Hermione silenced them.

"Where'd you learn that spell, Liz?"

"That's none of your concern."

"She learned it from the Death Eaters, no doubt," Ron muttered.

"Would you two stop blindly accusing people of being Death Eaters?" Hermione shouted, much to Elizabeth's amazement. "Innocent until proven guilty - and no, don't ask her to lift up her sleeve, that isn't fair."

"You're defending her?" Ron shouted.

"Of course she's defending her!" Ginny shouted, to Liz's surprise, as well. "A lifetime of friendship isn't going to be killed by some stupid decisions a few of us made."

"Look," Elizabeth sighed, "I appreciate you two sticking up for me, really I do, but I'd prefer if you just left. Please? I'd like to be alone."

"Elizabeth, we just want to help," Ginny said sadly. "If you just tell us-"

"I've already told Harry. Just trust me, all right? Even when it seems you can't," Ella said quietly. "It'll all be over soon... It'll be okay. We'll be okay."

"Liz... You sure you know what you're doing?" Hermione asked uncertainly, eyes glancing to Elizabeth's left arm. Ella cursed her for being so perceptive.

"I might not like it, Hermione, but I definitely know what I'm doing."

The girls glanced sadly at Elizabeth one last time before exiting the Hospital Wing, and Ron and Harry glared at her one last time before following them. Heaving a great sigh, Elizabeth let her head fall back onto her pillow - she winced at the sharp pain in her chest. Footsteps drew nearer and a cold hand grabbed her own.

"What are you doing Ella?" Draco asked as he sat down beside her.

"What do you mean?"

"You've always stood up for your friends, for the weaker people, hell you even killed a Death Eater last summer. So why is it that you've suddenly decided to join the dark side, huh? Surely it wasn't all because of me?"

"What are you prattling on about, Draco?" Elizabeth sighed, growing nervous, though it wasn't apparent.

"This thing on your arm... You've never wanted it," Draco stated.

"Neither did you."

"I thought it would be cool to be a part of His elite at first. Of course, I soon realised what an idiot I'd been for thinking that. But not you... No, you've always went out of your way to prevent His return or pull whatever stupid stunt to slow him down. So why it it that you decided to join Him?"

Elizabeth swallowed hard. She wasn't prepared to have this conversation now nor would she ever. She'd been foolish enough to think that Draco wouldn't care, that her being by his side was explanation enough. Of course, Elizabeth was wrong. She knew it was going to come to this, just not that quickly. She hadn't come up with an excuse as to why she was tagging along; there was always the option of telling him the truth. No. Dumbledore wouldn't want that. But what did she care if Dumbledore wasn't happy? No. It would endanger her mission, the Order of the Phoenix... it would endanger Draco. He couldn't know.

"Draco, I-"

"Tell me, Ella. I don't care why you've joined."

"You say that now..." Elizabeth said listlessly.

Draco squeezed her hand and said, "The only thing that could make me hate you, is if you told me you were in love with Zabini." Ella laughed.

"I don't, trust me," she said.

"Well, then, nothing can hurt me," Draco smiled.

"I can't, Draco. It's not safe; for you, for me, for my friends, for the little family I have."

"You know I can keep a secret, Ella."

"I know you can, and it's not that I don't trust you either," Liz said. "I'm just afraid that He'll find out."

"He won't, Love," Draco reassured. "We've both mastered Occlumency - there are so many things I've hidden from Him."

"'Greatest wizard ever', my arse." Elizabeth chuckled. Her expression went suddenly serious. "Wait, what have you hidden from Him?"

"Well, uh, what happened at Christmas, for one," Draco said, slightly embarrassed. Liz's cheeks turned the lightest shade of pink. "You know, when you said you had freckles everywhere, I didn't think you meant-"

"Draco!" The boy smirked as Liz hit him on the arm.

"All right, all right... Now, would you just tell me?"

"Fine. Just don't go yell it down the halls of Malfoy Manor, okay?"

And thus began the long and tedious explanation of why Elizabeth Rose Evans was risking her life for an old man in half-moon spectacles...


	116. Truth, Lies and Things That Weren't Said

Elizabeth had always thought that she was the least favourite Slytherin of the whole school. As it turned out, she was wrong. If anything, she was one of the most revered and looked up to, save Draco Malfoy. This information came to light when she got out of the Hospital Wing a week later and everyone at the table at breakfast asked Elizabeth if she was all right, if she needed anything or even if she wanted them to hex her brother for her. Draco denied every request for her, glaring, and they all rushed back to their places. However it didn't stop the entire Slytherin House from taunting and tormenting Harry a lot more than usual; Elizabeth had her entire House at her back.

Draco had taken the news that she was Dumbledore's spy better than she thought, though he didn't take it all too well. He wasn't surprised that she had accepted the mission the Headmaster had given her and that she was in fact a spy for the Order of the Phoenix (she was careful not to mention Snape was a spy, too), and he was surprisingly relieved to hear it; there was someone there to protect his family with him should anything bad happen. He was also glad to hear that his girlfriend hadn't gone off the deep end, pushed too far into the realm of Bellatrix Lestrange's mind so that she was no longer affected by the wrongs she had done. However, despite his relief that Elizabeth wasn't in fact in love with Blaise Zabini, he was entirely angry with Albus Dumbledore for putting Elizabeth in this much danger. He spent at least a half hour pacing the room, yelling and scaring the other students that were in the hospital wing - Liz had to calm him down or everyone would know what they were talking about. He cursed Dumbledore for giving her this task, he cursed him for not letting anyone else in the Order know - especially Ella's Godfather - and he cursed him for giving her the daunting task of killing him.

* * *

Much to Ravenclaw's disappointment, Gryffindor won the Quidditch Cup by a landslide, even with Harry at his weekly detentions with Professor Snape and who also missed the final game. The very next day after their victory, gossip around the castle was that Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley were dating. When Draco learned this he nearly gagged, making Liz chuckle, but in all honesty she was happy for them; well, as happy as she could be during these dark times. There were even rumours that Harry had a Hippogriff tattooed on his chest, a rumour that Elizabeth had no problems confirming much to the first years' fascination. Even Romilda Vane seemed enthralled by the idea of Harry having a tattoo across his chest. It all made Elizabeth want to vomit.

A few days later, Elizabeth found herself planted in front of the Vanishing Cabinet again, though she hadn't told Draco, so Crabbe and Goyle were nowhere to be found. It didn't really matter; no one came searching for the Room or Requirement save Harry, but he couldn't seem to get in. Elizabeth had nothing to worry about, or so she thought. Ella was nearly done repairing the Cabinet she'd been trying to mend all year. She muttered Harmonia Nectere Passus a few times before opening the Cabinet and fiddling with a few things on the inside. She stood back, placed an apple inside the Cabinet and waited for a few minutes, her fingers crossed. Elizabeth slowly opened the door. The apple was intact. Ella hadn't been this happy for a long time. The girl let out a breathy laugh and stood back, looking at the intact apple as she let the elation she felt soak into her bones. She'd succeeded at last. She let out a loud happy laugh, but was interrupted by a voice at the entrance to the Room of Requirement. Elizabeth didn't think twice and threw one of her ideas up at the ceiling: Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder; a product she'd imported for Fred and George joke shop last year. The Room of Requirement fell into a darkness that no spell could penetrate and with a flick of her wand, she sent whoever was inside the room, out, with a stunning spell. The door slammed shut.

Elizabeth gathered her things and went to the door, pressing her ear against it in hopes that she could hear what was happening outside. She could hear the muffled voice of a woman - she didn't recognise it - and the muffled voice of her own brother, which seemed a lot less panicked than the woman's voice. As the voices grew quieter and quieter, Elizabeth placed a Disillusionment Charm on herself and quietly walked out of the room. She spotted Harry and Professor Trelawney walking a short way ahead and decided to follow them, though her instincts were telling her to run in the opposite direction. All of a sudden, Harry stopped walking and began sprinting. Elizabeth followed. They ran up to Dumbledore's office and Harry entered. Elizabeth pressed her ear upon the door.

"Well, Harry, I promised that you could come with me," Elizabeth heard Dumbledore say.

There was a moment of silence.

"Come... with you?" the girl heard her brother reply.

"Only if you wish it, of course."

"You've found one? You've found a Horcrux?" Ella's heart skipped a beat.

"I believe so," Dumbledore said. The was more silence, and the Headmaster continued, "It is natural to be afraid."

"I'm not scared!" Harry said at once, and Liz resisted the urge to scoff. "Which Horcrux is it? Where is it?"

"I am not sure which it is - though I think we can rule out the snake - but I believe it to be hidden in a cave on the coast many miles from here, a cave I have been trying to locate for a very long time: the cave in which Tom Riddle once terrorized two children from his orphanage on their annual trip; you remember?"

"Yes. How is it protected?"

"I do not know; I have suspicions that may be entirely wrong." A beat. "Harry, I promised you that you could come with me, and I stand by that promise, but it would be very wrong of me not to warn you that this will be exceedingly dangerous."

"I'm coming," Harry said, almost before Dumbledore had finished speaking.

There was another moment of silence. Dumbledore broke it.

"What has happened to you?"

"Nothing."

"What has upset you?"

"I'm not upset."

"Harry, you were never a good Occlumens-"

"Snape!" Harry said very loudly, and Elizabeth heard Fawkes give a soft squawk in reply. She had to resist the urge to break her cover and storm in to punch her brother in the face. "Snape's what's happened! He told Voldemort about the prophecy, it was him, he listened outside the door, Trelawney told me!"

Elizabeth's breath hitched in her throat and her eyebrows furrowed. What in Merlin's name was Harry talking about? It couldn't have been Snape! He couldn't be the reason that her mother had died. No. No, she couldn't think like that. Besides, even if it was him, how was he supposed to know that the Dark Lord was going to choose Harry as his enemy? He couldn't have known... For another long moment, no one said anything.

"When did you find out about this?" Elizabeth stifled a gasp.

"Just now!" Harry said, then began yelling, "AND YOU LET HIM TEACH HERE; AND HE TOLD VOLDEMORT TO GO AFTER MY MUM AND DAD!"

Elizabeth could hear Harry breathing heavily and pacing through the door.

"Harry," Dumbledore said quietly. "Please listen to me. Professor Snape made a terrible-"

"Don't tell me it was a mistake, sir, he was listening at the door!"

"Please let me finish." Dumbledore waited. "Professor Snape made a terrible mistake. He was still in Lord Voldemort's employ on the night he heard the first half of Professor Trelawney's prophecy. Naturally, he hastened to tell his master what he had heard, for it concerned his master most deeply. But he did not know - he had no possible way of knowing - which boy Voldemort would hunt from then onward, or that the parents he would destroy in his murderous quest were people that Professor Snape knew, that they were your mother and father-"

Harry let out a yell of mirthless laughter.

"He hated my dad like he hated Sirius! Haven't you noticed, Professor, how the people Snape hates tend to end up dead?"

"You have no idea of the remorse Professor Snape felt when he realized how Lord Voldemort had interpreted the prophecy, Harry," Dumbledore said. "I believe it to be the greatest regret of his life and the reason that he returned-"

"But he's a very good Occlumens, isn't he, sir?" Harry's voice said, still shaking with anger. "And isn't Voldemort convinced that Snape's on his side, even now? Professor... how can you be sure Snape's on our side?"

"I am sure. I trust Severus Snape completely, and so does your sister. You should too."

"Well, I don't!" Harry shouted. "He's up to something with Draco Malfoy and my sister right now, right under your nose, and you still-"

"We have discussed this, Harry," Dumbledore said, sounding stern. "I have told you my views."

"You're leaving the school tonight, and I'll bet you haven't even considered that Snape, Malfoy and Elizabeth might decide to-"

"To what? What is it that you suspect them of doing, precisely?"

"I... they're up to something!" Harry said. "Professor Trelawney was just in the Room of Requirement, trying to hide her sherry bottles, and she heard Elizabeth laughing, celebrating! She's trying to mend something dangerous in there and if you ask me, she's fixed it at last and you're about to just walk out of school without-"

"Enough," Dumbledore said quite calmly, though Elizabeth could tell that Harry had finally crossed an invisible line. "Do you think that I have once left the school unprotected during my absences this year? I have not. Tonight, when I leave, there will again be additional protection in place. Please do not suggest that I do not take the safety of my students seriously, Harry."

"I didn't-" Harry mumbled, a little abashed, but Dumbledore cut across him.

"I do not wish to discuss the matter any further."

Elizabeth had heard enough. Before she even knew what she was doing, Liz had removed the Disillusionment Charm on herself and was halfway across the school, running and bumping into people. Her mind was far from blank, but she couldn't focus on one thought or even just a few; everything was flooding her mind like a broken dam. She used her wand to open the Dungeon door before she got there, allowing her to speed through without stopping, and skidded to a halt in front of Snape's office door. She didn't even bother to knock, but burst in, tears prickling at her eyes. Snape looked up from his parchment and, upon seeing her so distraught, he frowned slightly.

"Elizabeth?"

"Don't Elizabeth me; not now!" Elizabeth snapped, angrier than she thought she was. Her mind was all over the place. "Guess what I just learned? Actually, how about you delve into the depths of my damn mind! You're good at that, aren't you?"

"What is wrong-"

"YOU! You're what's wrong, Severus Snape!" Ella ran her shaking fingers through her hair. "I trusted you! For fuck's sake I've been defending you for the past six years of my life and it turns out that you're the one who sold my mum out to the Dark Lord!?"

Snape's eyes widened ever-so-slightly. He opened his mouth to speak but Elizabeth stopped him before he even began talking.

"Did you not think I'd figure it out?" Liz said, pacing the room. "Or were you just so hell-bent on hiding it from me that you never once thought that I could have heard it from someone else?"

"Who-"

"MY STUPID BROTHER! Trelawney told him! I know she's beyond mad, but she was there wasn't she? After all, she did make that stupid Prophecy. And what reason does she have to lie about something of the sort?

"And yeah, I heard Dumbledore defend you too: Professor Snape made a terrible mistake. He didn't know - he had no possible way of knowing-"

"I had no idea!" Snape cut Elizabeth off, visibly angry. "Do you think that I would have endangered your mother's life intentionally? Potter's, maybe, but Lily's? You know what you saw in the Pensieve - would I have endangered your mother?"

"The Pensieve?" Elizabeth muttered, recalling the memory she'd seen without his knowledge.

"Oh, yes, I'm quite aware of your little invasion of privacy - Dumbledore told me. It seems your brother let it slip to him that you'd seen it too."

"But I'd never tell anyone something like that! And I didn't!" Elizabeth defended. "Especially not Harry!"

"It seems as though your brother isn't as dense as we all think he is and figured it out!"

Elizabeth cursed loudly and clenched her fists. How could she have been so stupid, looking into things that shouldn't be looked into? How could Harry betray her like that? How could Snape bring this up now, when she was asking him for an explanation as to why he'd sold his mother out. How could she let herself trust someone so fully? How could she have told Draco everything she'd done? Why in God's name did she accept this damned mission?

Brick by brick, her walls came tumbling down. She was losing her mind; the one thing that always kept her in line. Elizabeth could feel it unravelling, the threads of every happy memory she could ever once recall, all but a disarray of scattered things at her feet. The girl wheeled towards the wall and thrust her fist at it; her knuckles split open and blood trickled from her hand, but she felt no pain. Elizabeth looked at her hand and broke down. She didn't care if Snape saw at this point. She just broke down, falling to her knees and her nails clawing at the cold stone floor. The sobs punched through, ripping through the girl's muscles, bones, and guts. Her heart was yanking in and out of her chest. She was hollow. Her life was crumbling in her fingertips.

Amir dying was what started the downward spiral. The grief stricken fifteen year old girl that she was last year seemed so far away now. Killing Travers out of revenge, spite or for whatever other reason she'd thought of, was what sent her over the edge; it was the point from which she could never return. Then there was Dumbledore and his blasted mission. How could he have not known that this was what it would come to - to a sixteen year old girl sobbing hysterically on the floor of her Professor's office? But she couldn't give him all the credit. It was her who accepted the mission, after all - he just offered it. Though Elizabeth was sure that Dumbledore knew she'd take the mission - he took advantage of her ability to love, in short. Then it was the Dark Lord, Bellatrix and their torture, their murder, and all the other unspeakable things they made Elizabeth do. After that it was a broken Draco that pushed her further than she should have pushed herself. A broken and scared Draco that made her reckless enough to tell him her greatest secret, a secret no one but Dumbledore and Snape were supposed to be aware of. And now, it was Severus Snape that was tormenting her. Unwittingly, of course, but he was tormenting her nonetheless - the information he'd withheld took a toll on the girl's already fragile mental state. Soon, it would be be Dumbledore's death and Harry's relentless pursuit of the Horcruxes the Headmaster will have failed to retrieve before his untimely death - Elizabeth was sure he was going to do it, dragging Ron and Hermione with him and into the dangers she was facing nearly every day.

Elizabeth barely even noticed when Snape sat down beside her, on the floor; her eyes were glued to the floor, clouded by tears and her gaze blocked by her hair falling on either side of her pale, scarred face. All she could practically see were her chipped fingernails scratching at the floor, and the puddle of salty water that had pooled between her hands. She'd only caught a glimpse of Snape lowering himself beside her. She wanted to run out of the office and pretend she'd never come in, accusing her Professor of being the reason for her mother's death. Technically he was, but Snape was right. What she'd seen in the Pensieve was revelatory - Snape and Lily had been best friends; there was no way he'd intentionally put her in harm's way. Elizabeth wanted to apologise, but no words came out, only a silent scream. Elizabeth wanted to run and hide and never come out of her hiding place. Elizabeth wanted to tell Dumbledore to sod off, that he could get things done without her being a Death Eater. Elizabeth wanted her life to be normal again. But all that was impossible. And so, she sat there - for God knows how long - sobbing and bleeding, until she was so exhausted she passed out, forehead pressed against Severus Snape's shoulder.


	117. A Mission in its Finality

"I love you, Ella..."

An ounce of pressure on Elizabeth's forehead brought her out of her unconscious state. The warmth associated with it was soon gone and replaced by a cool sensation. Elizabeth's hands gripped the soft fabric beneath her, balling the sheets into her thin fingers. Her eyelids squeezed shut before opening groggily, vision slightly blurry from being unused for some time. The girl's eyesight focused after a few seconds, just fast enough for her to see her boyfriend's retreating figure. Without a second thought, Elizabeth sat up and noticed she was in the hospital wing. She looked down at her hand; it was bandaged tightly. The memory of her going to Snape's office and breaking down was pushed back to the far reaches of her mind. Draco was at the forefront now.

Elizabeth swung her legs over the side of the cot and grabbed her wand from the side table. Madam Pomfrey rushed into the room, screeching about the student needing to stay in bed, but Liz simply glared and stormed out of the hospital wing in pursuit of her boyfriend. What was he doing? He was avoiding looking at the other students as he walked through the crowd of students in the halls. Elizabeth followed him up into the castle and up all the stairs in the astronomy tower. Draco took his wand out and sighed heavily. He pointed it at the sky and shouted:

"Morsmordre!"

Instantly, a jet of bright green light burst from Draco's wand and flew up into the starry night sky. At first, it looked like a beautiful aurora borealis had formed in the sky, but then it shaped itself into a large skull, a snake protruding from its mouth. Elizabeth frowned; he'd found out that she'd completed her task. And then she realised, with a wave of dread and fear, that it was now time for Draco to accomplish his mission - it was time for Draco Malfoy to kill Albus Dumbledore.

"Draco, you're not doing this," Liz said all of a sudden, revealing her presence to her boyfriend.

He turned around, startled, and said, "Ella, get out of here. Your job is done, now it's my turn."

"No, Draco! I'm not letting you become a murderer!"

"And I'm not letting the same happen to you, Ella!"

"I'm already a murderer, Draco!" Elizabeth shouted. "I killed Travers, I let dozens of Muggles die and I tortured so many to death! It's too late for me, but it isn't for you!

"When all this is over, I won't get a trial, but you will! And if you don't do anything stupid, you won't be sentenced! You'll go home to your parents safe and sound!"

"And let you rot in Azkaban!?" Draco yelled. "You're mad!"

"Draco, Love... It's not too late to back away. You can still do the right thing..."

Draco stared at Elizabeth, pain and anguish painted all over his face. Even Elizabeth looked flustered, which surprised Draco; she was usually eerily calm in situations like this. But not this time. This time Draco's life was in danger and it was natural to show fear when the one you loved was threatened.

Draco was about to say something, but he pulled her behind a pillar as someone approached the tower on a broom... No, two people. Fear swelled in Elizabeth like a venomous bubble, compressing her lungs and removing every other thought from her mind but the identity of the two people flying in for a landing. Moments later, Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore landed at the top of the astronomy tower looking panicked and pained. Elizabeth was sure they'd just come back from the Horcrux hunt. Harry's gaze rapidly went around.

"What does it mean?" Harry asked Dumbledore, looking up at the green skull with it's serpent tongue glinting above them. "Is it the real Mark? Has someone been- Professor?"

In the dim green glow from the Mark, Elizabeth saw Dumbledore clutching at his chest with his blackened hand.

"Go and wake Severus and your sister," Dumbledore said faintly, but clearly. "Tell them what has happened and bring them to me. Do nothing else, speak to nobody else, and do not remove your cloak. I shall wait here."

"But-"

"You swore to obey me, Harry - go!"

Harry swung on his cloak and hurried over to the door leading to the spiral staircase, but his hand had only just closed upon the iron ring of the door when Draco burst out from behind the pillar and shouted, 'Expelliarmus'. Dumbledore's wand flew out of his hand, but the door never opened. Elizabeth frowned then looked over at the Headmaster. It came to her: Dumbledore had wordlessly immobilised Harry, and the second he had taken to perform the spell had cost him the chance of defending himself. Elizabeth swallowed hard. This was it. This was the mission. It was time to stop Draco and... and kill Albus Dumbledore herself.

Elizabeth ignored Draco and the Headmaster as they spoke, and thought hard. Should she let Draco do this? She knew that in the Dark Lord's eyes, her interference meant that Draco couldn't perform the task at hand and that he'd definitely be subject to 'punishment'. Ella ran her fingers through her knotted ebony hair and exhaled nervously, shaking her head. She definitely didn't want that. Should she wait for Professor Snape, then? It was better if he did it anyway... The Unbreakable Vow made it easier for Elizabeth to think that. But she couldn't let him kill the Headmaster when she was the one who was asked to complete the deed. Besides, as long as Draco didn't kill Dumbledore, Snape would be fine, the Vow wouldn't come into effect. She had to do it... There was no other option.

Elizabeth calmly took out her wand and cleared her mind of everything, breathing slowly and evenly. She stepped out into the dim green light of the Mark, her dark wand raised. Her eyes were cold and void of any form of emotion. Her face was set in a familiar stoic expression. Her body was somehow at ease. And for some reason, despite her clear mind, she remembered the words that Ollivander spoke to her so many years ago: 'It is perfect for the Dark Arts. Be careful with this one...' Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the stick of willow wood. Even Ollivander knew something like this might happen. Dumbledore turned to her and, to Elizabeth, it looked almost as if he had smiled ever so slightly.

"Draco, move," Elizabeth said coldly.

"Ella-"

"I will not ask again."

Draco grudgingly lowered his wand and growled, angry at himself, at everyone and everything. Somewhere in the depths of the castle, Elizabeth heard a muffled yell. She could only guess that the Death Eaters had managed to get into the castle without a problem. Liz looked at Dumbledore straight in the eyes. He wasn't going to back down from his plan. Elizabeth wasn't going to back down from her mission.

"I see you brought some friends into the castle," Dumbledore said. "Tell me, Elizabeth, how did you do that?"

"Twin Vanishing Cabinets. It was easy enough to figure out," Liz replied coldly.

Draco looked at her wearily. He'd never seen her so emotionless, so cold, so... unfeeling. He wondered if it was because of the Occlumency lessons with Bellatrix and Snape. He wondered if it was because she was trying to keep Dumbledore out of her head. He wondered if, maybe, she really had gone too far because of Bellatrix Lestrange. Draco didn't like the look in his girlfriend's eyes.

"My, you have changed, Elizabeth..."

"And who's fault is that exactly?"

There was another yell from below, rather louder than the last. Draco looked nervously over his shoulder. Elizabeth kept staring at Dumbledore, wand pointed at his chest. She looked into his eyes again. It seemed that he was taunting her, daring her to kill him. He knew what she'd done in the past, with Bellatrix at Malfoy Manor (most likely); he knew that she'd never used the Killing Curse before. So far, she'd gotten away with using Sectumsempra or Dolohov's curse and avoided saying Avada Kedavra to someone.

There was a bang and shouts from below, louder than ever; it sounded as though people were fighting on the actual spiral staircase up to the astronomy tower. The Order of the Phoenix no doubt.

Then something changed. Dumbledore looked at Elizabeth straight in her moss green eyes, but instead of seeing a taunt or a dare Elizabeth saw a different twinkle in his pale blue eyes. The girl's eyebrows furrowed ever-so-slightly. In the soft green light of the hovering Dark Mark, Elizabeth could have sworn that the Headmaster's eyes, once shining brightly with mischief and happiness, were now... pleading?

"Elizabeth..." the man said softly.

"Don't," she said sharply, jaw clenched.

"Elizabeth please..."

The girl's mind was far from blank now. She didn't want to do this, not one bit. Anger pulsed through her veins. She was angry at Dumbledore for taking advantage of her ability to love and care for others. She was angry at herself for accepting the damn mission. And now that she was face to face with the daunting task of killing Dumbledore, he began pleading. To Harry, well-hidden in the corner, it might have seemed that Dumbledore was begging for his life but Elizabeth knew better; Albus Dumbledore was begging her to kill him before anyone else arrived, to put an end to the suffering he was living via his blackened hand. With a sigh she gripped her wand more firmly than ever before. She could see, out of the corner of her eye, Draco staring at her, terrified out of his wits. And just as the door to the astronomy tower flew open and Snape and other Death Eaters stormed in, Elizabeth opened her mouth and softly said:

"Avada Kedavra."

A jet of green light shot from the end of Elizabeth's wand and hit Dumbledore squarely in the chest. Elizabeth fought back the need to vomit, disgusted at what she'd just done. She didn't even watch as Dumbledore blasted off his feet, seemingly suspended in mid-air beneath the shining green skull, and fell slowly backward like a rag doll over the battlements, and out of sight. Instead, she turned around and locked eyes with Severus Snape who, to Elizabeth, seemed to be fighting the urge to run over to her. The Death Eaters cheered and clapped Elizabeth on the back. Then, regaining her composure, she cast one last glance at Snape and Draco before walking down the steps, fighting back tears.


	118. Aftermath

Elizabeth reached the bottom of the staircase in mere seconds, wanting to get away from her actions at all costs. The dimly lit corridor that lead up to the astronomy tower was full of dust; half the ceiling seemed to have fallen in; and a battle was raging before her. No student dared to raise a wand against her, believing wholeheartedly that she was on their side. But the members of the Order that were in front of her shot spells at Elizabeth. She easily deflected them with a flick of her wand and sent a few gruesome spells their way, which almost all hit them directly in the chest. Elizabeth managed to force her way through the battle unscathed, avoiding flashes of light here and there, and disappeared around a corner turned a corner, away from the stench of sweat and blood.

Suddenly, a flash of yellow light hit the wall beside her. It wasn't a miss. Slowly, Elizabeth turned around to face whomever wanted her to stop walking. Ella nearly burst into tears seeing her Godfather standing in front of her, panting heavily with his wand lowered. His face was dusty and bloody, his robes torn and a look of confusion and anger was plastered on his face.

"Elizabeth! Where are you going?" he called, taking a step towards her.

Liz raised her wand up to his chest and said, "Not another step. I don't want to have to hurt you, Remus."

"What? What are you talking about, Elizabeth?" Remus breathed, confused. "Come fight with the Order!"

"As much as I would love to stay here and chat and fight with the Order, I've got better things to do," Elizabeth said coldly. "Stay safe, Remus."

Ella turned her back and began walking, but she heard footsteps running after her. In one swift move she turned around and pointed her wand at Lupin, screaming 'Depulso!'. The spell hit Lupin squarely in the chest and he went flying back into a wall. He fell limply to the ground, unmoving, but breathing. Elizabeth clenched her jaw. She bit back her tears as Snape, Draco and a few other Death Eaters came up behind her. Snape glanced at her, then at Lupin, and grabbed her by the arm, dragging her away. They all began to sprint along the corridor, ignoring the bangs issuing from behind them, the yells of the others to come back, and the mute call of the figures on the ground whose fate they did not yet know... Elizabeth skidded around the corner, her trainers slippery with blood. Snape blasted the large entrance doors open with a flick of his wand and the small group of Death Eaters exited rapidly. There were smears of blood on the flagstones and a few bodies had to be stepped over in order to escape the castle. The giant House hourglasses had been hit by a curse, and the rubies, sapphires, emeralds and topazes within were still falling, with a loud rattle, onto the flagstones below.

Elizabeth, Snape, Draco and the other Death Eaters had flown across the entrance hall and out into the dark grounds and headed towards the gates beyond which they could Disapparate. The cold night air ripped at Elizabeth's lungs as she stormed off in the gates' direction. Suddenly, Hagrid had come out of his hut and tried to stop them, but Snape and a few other Death Eaters sent jets of bright light in his direction. He stumbled back, every inch of the impact location in pain.

Just then, a flash of red light flew between Snape and Elizabeth and hit the ground in front of them. Ella glanced over her shoulder and saw that Harry was gaining on them. He fired another jinx at Snape and his own sister, which the latter blocked. Snape turned to her and Draco and told them to run. The young Malfoy obeyed instantly, but not Elizabeth. Snape glared at her, but Ella shrugged; he knew better than to give her such orders.

"Go now!" he yelledas he deflected a jinx from Harry.

"You know better than to give me orders!" Elizabeth countered, staying put.

"Stay behind me, then!"

"I can defend-"

"Elizabeth!"

"Fine."

Twenty yards apart, Snape and Harry looked at each other before raising their wands simultaneously.

"Cruc-"

But Snape parried the curse, knocking Harry backward off his feet before he could complete it; Harry rolled over and scrambled back up again as one of the Death Eaters, Dolohov, yelled, "Incendio!" Elizabeth heard an explosive bang and a dancing orange light spilled over all of them: Hagrid's house was on fire.

"Cruc-" Harry yelled for the second time, but Snape blocked the spell again.

Elizabeth, who was to the man's side, saw Snape's sneer.

"No Unforgivable Curses from you, Potter!" he shouted over the rushing of the flames and Hagrid's yells. "You haven't got the nerve or the ability-"

"Incarc-" Harry roared, but Snape deflected the spell with an almost lazy flick of his arm. "Fight back!" Harry screamed at him. "Fight back, you cowardly-"

Elizabeth growled and made to run at her brother, but Snape grabbed her by her middle and swung the girl behind him. Elizabeth didn't fight him, but she was far from done.

"Coward, did you call him, Potter?" Liz shouted. "Your father would have never attacked him unless it was four on one, what would you call him, I wonder?"

"Stupe-"

"Blocked again and again until you learn to keep your mouth shut and your mind closed, Potter!" Snape sneered, deflecting the curse once more. "Now come!" he shouted at Dolohov and Elizabeth. "It is time to be gone, before the Ministry turns up-"

"Impedi-"

But before he could finish his jinx, Harry keeled over in the grass. Elizabeth ran towards her brother and saw who was doing this to him. Amycus and Alecto Carrow were torturing him with Crucio. Ella didn't even think twice to storm up to them.

"No!" she roared. "Have you forgotten our orders? Potter belongs to the Dark Lord - we are to leave him! Now, go!"

Amycus and Alecto glared, but obeyed, and ran. Elizabeth stayed back for a few seconds, fighting the urge to run to her brother and embrace him. Snape came towards her and grabbed her by the elbow, dragging her away as she looked back. Harry pushed himself to his feet and pointed his wand blindly between Snape and Elizabeth.

"Sectum-"

Snape flicked his wand and the curse was repelled yet again; but Harry was mere feet away now and he could see Snape and Elizabeth's faces clearly. They were no longer sneering or jeering; the blazing flames from Hagrid's burning hut showed faces full of rage. How dare he use that spell again?

"No, Potter!" Snape screamed, blocking a non-verbal spell.

There was a loud BANG and Harry was soaring backward, hitting the ground hard again, and this time his wand flew out of his hand. Elizabeth could hear Hagrid yelling and Fang howling as she and Snape closed in and looked down on Harry where he lay, wandless and defenseless as Dumbledore had been.

"You dare use my own spells against me, Potter?" Snape said, eerily calm. "It was I who invented them - I, the Half-Blood Prince! And you'd turn my inventions on me, like your filthy father, would you? I don't think so... no!"

Harry had dived for his wand; Snape shot a hex at it and it flew feet away into the darkness and out of sight.

"Kill me then," Harry panted, looking at Elizabeth straight in the eye. "Kill me like you killed him, you coward-"

"DON'T-" Elizabeth screamed, and her face was suddenly demented, inhuman, as though she was in just as much pain as the yelping dog stuck inside the burning house behind them "- CALL ME A COWARD!"

And she slashed at the air: the spell, whiplike and white-hot, hit him across the face and he was slammed backward into the ground. Elizabeth raised her wand again, but Snape caught her arm and dragged her off just as Buckbeak suddenly appeared and slashed his talons down onto the girl. Liz let out a yelp of pain and ran with Snape all the way to the gates and Disapparated, a small drop of blood being the only evidence as to their presence.

Snape and Elizabeth Apparated at the front gates to Malfoy Manor. Neither of them said anything as they walked down the long driveway. Elizabeth listened to the slow rushing of water coming from the marble fountains and to the rustling of leaves in the light breeze. As soothing as those sounds ere, Elizabeth couldn't help but be irritated at them. How dare nature be so calm when everything else was all going to hell? How dare the crickets sing their happy tune when Elizabeth's rage was boiling inside her. How dare the stars twinkle so beautifully when all Elizabeth wanted to do was Avada Kedavra herself? It wasn't fair...

Somewhere along the way, Elizabeth had stopped walking. She stood at the center of the lane and stared blankly ahead, Snape's figure melting into the night scenery. She felt numb: her fingers and toes were numb, her arms and legs were numb, her mind was numb. She was barely breathing. Her arm was bleeding. She didn't care.

"I killed him..." Elizabeth breathed, barely above a whisper.

Snape placed each hand on her shoulders and bent down to look at her face, "Elizabeth?"

"I killed Dumbledore..." A single tear rolled down her cheek. "I killed him, Professor... I kill-"

"Enough," Snape said softly. "You did what had to be done."

"I didn't have to do anything!" Liz said, suddenly getting angry. "You said so yourself, he wouldn't make it to the end of the year; I could have just let him die! And Harry! Oh, what about Harry?" Elizabeth cried in dismay. She was frantic now. "Dumbledore was wrong! Harry'll never forgive me! Not for this! Remus! I hexed Remus! I hexed my own Godfather for Merlin's sake! What if they're hurt? What if I never get to talk to them again? What if-"

Elizabeth was silenced by and unexpected hug from Severus Snape. It was awkward for the first few seconds - Snape remained somewhat stiff, most likely unaccustomed to this sort of behaviour - but after the initial shock, Elizabeth's arms wound themselves around his back. After another moment or two, her hands had balled into fists and her face was buried into the front of his robes, soaking them with salty tears.


	119. Dinner, Nagini

Oh, the torment bred in the race,

The grinding scream of death

And the stroke that hits the vein,

The hemorrhage none can staunch, the grief,

The curse no man can bear.

But there is a cure in the house

And not outside it, no,

Not from others but from them,

Their bloody strife.

We sing to you, dark gods beneath the earth.

Now hear, you blissful powers underground -

Answer the call, send help.

Bless the children, give them triumph now.

 _Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers_

* * *

Two men appeared out of nowhere, a few yards apart in the narrow, moonlit lane. For a second they stood quite still, wands directed at each other's chests; then, recognizing each other, they stowed their wands beneath their cloaks and started walking briskly in the same direction. The men's long cloaks flapped around their ankles as they marched.

"Thought I might be late," said Yaxley, his blunt features sliding in and out of sight as the branches of overhanging trees broke the moonlight. "It was a little trickier than I expected. But I hope he will be satisfied. You sound confident that your reception will be good?"

Severus Snape nodded, but did not elaborate. They turned right, into the wide driveway that led off the lane. The high hedge curved with them, running off into the distance beyond the pair of impressive wrought-iron gates barring the men's way. Neither of them broke step. In silence both raised their left arms in a kind of salute and passed straight through, as though the dark metal were smoke.

The yew hedges muffled the sound of the men's footsteps. There was a rustle somewhere to their right: Yaxley drew his wand again, pointing it over his companion's head, but the source of the noise proved to be nothing more than a pure-white peacock, strutting majestically along the top of the hedge.

"He always did himself well, Lucius. Peacocks..." Yaxley said, and thrust his wand back under his cloak with a snort.

The ever handsome Malfoy Manor grew out of the darkness at the end of the straight drive, lights glinting in the diamond-paned downstairs windows. Somewhere in the dark garden beyond the hedge a fountain was playing. Gravel crackled beneath their feet as Snape and Yaxley sped toward the front door, which swung inward at their approach, though nobody had visibly opened it.

The hallway was large, dimly lit, and sumptuously decorated, with a magnificent carpet covering most of the stone floor. The eyes of the pale-faced portraits on the walls followed Snape and Yaxley as they strode past. The two men halted at a heavy wooden door leading into the next room, hesitated for the space of a heartbeat, then Snape turned the bronze handle.

The drawing room was full of silent people, sitting at a long and ornate table. The room's usual furniture had been pushed carelessly up against the walls. Illumination came from a roaring fire beneath a handsome marble mantelpiece surmounted by a gilded mirror. Snape and Yaxley lingered for a moment on the threshold. As their eyes grew accustomed to the lack of light, they were drawn upward to the strangest feature of the scene: an apparently unconscious human figure hanging upside down over the table, revolving slowly as if suspended by an invisible rope, and reflected in the mirror and in the bare, polished surface of the table below. None of the people seated underneath this singular sight was looking at it except for a pale young man sitting almost directly below it. The young woman at the edge of the table glanced at him and not the revolving woman. They seemed unable to prevent themselves from glancing every minute or so.

"Yaxley. Snape," a high, clear voice from the head of the table said. "You are very nearly late."

The speaker was seated directly in front of the fireplace, so that it was difficult, at first, for the new arrivals to make out more than his silhouette. As they drew nearer, however, his face shone through the gloom, hairless, snakelike, with slits for nostrils and gleaming red eyes whose pupils were vertical. He was so pale that he seemed to emit a pearly glow.

"Severus, here," Voldemort said, indicating the seat on his immediate right which faced Elizabeth, who kept glancing at Draco. "Yaxley - beside Dolohov."

The two men took their allotted places. Most of the eyes around the table followed Snape, and it was to him that Voldemort spoke first.

"So?"

"My Lord, the Order of the Phoenix intends to move Harry Potter from his current place of safety on Saturday next, at nightfall."

The interest around the table sharpened. Some stiffened, others fidgeted, all gazing at Snape and Voldemort.

"Saturday... at nightfall," the Dark Lord repeated.

His red eyes fastened upon Snape's black ones with such intensity that some of the watchers looked away, apparently fearful that they themselves would be scorched by the ferocity of the gaze. Snape, however, looked calmly back into Voldemort's face and, after a moment or two, Voldemort's lip-less mouth curved into something like a smile.

"Good. Very good. This information concurs with the information our dear Elizabeth has gathered..." Voldemort said, glancing to the young woman on his left. "And this information comes-"

"-From the source we discussed," Snape said.

"My Lord." Yaxley had leaned forward to look down the long table at Voldemort and Snape. All faces turned to him. "My Lord, I have heard differently." Yaxley waited, but Voldemort did not speak, so he went on, "Dawlish, the Auror, let slip that Potter will not be moved until the thirtieth, the night before the boy turns seventeen."

Elizabeth was smiling.

"My source told me that there are plans to lay a false trail; this must be it. No doubt a Confundus Charm has been placed upon Dawlish," Elizabeth said disinterested. "It would not be the first time; he is known to be susceptible."

"I assure you, my Lord, Dawlish seemed quite certain," Yaxley insisted.

"If he has been Confunded, naturally he is certain," Elizabeth said, nearly chuckling. "I assure you, Yaxley, the Auror Office will play no further part in the protection of Harry Potter. The Order believes that we have infiltrated the Ministry."

"The Order's got one thing right, then, eh?" a squat man sitting a short distance from Yaxley said.

He gave a wheezy giggle that was echoed here and there along the table. Voldemort did not laugh. His gaze had wandered upward to the body revolving slowly overhead, and he seemed to be lost in thought.

"My Lord," Yaxley went on, "Dawlish believes an entire party of Aurors will be used to transfer the boy-"

Voldemort held up a large white hand, and Yaxley subsided at once, watching resentfully as Voldemort turned back to Elizabeth, then Snape.

"Where are they going to hide the boy next?"

"At the home of one of the Order," Snape said, looking at Elizabeth for confirmation. She nodded. "The place, according to the source, has been given every protection that the Order and Ministry together could provide. I think that there is little chance of taking him once he is there, my Lord, unless, of course, the Ministry has fallen before next Saturday, which might give us the opportunity to discover and undo enough of the enchantments to break through the rest."

"Well, Yaxley?" Voldemort called down the table, the firelight glinting strangely in his red eyes. "Will the Ministry have fallen by next Saturday?"

Once again, all heads turned. Yaxley squared his shoulders.

"My Lord, I have good news on that score. I have - with difficulty, and after great effort - succeeded in placing an Imperius Curse upon Pius Thicknesse."

Many of those sitting around Yaxley looked impressed; his neighbor, Dolohov, a man with a long, twisted face, clapped him on the back. Elizabeth resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"It is a start," Voldemort said airily. "But Thicknesse is only one man. Scrimgeour must be surrounded by our people before I act. One failed attempt on the Minister's life will set me back a long way."

"Yes - my Lord, that is true - but you know, as Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Thicknesse has regular contact not only with the Minister himself, but also with the Heads of all the other Ministry departments. It will, I think, be easy now that we have such a high-ranking official under our control, to subjugate the others, and then they can all work together to bring Scrimgeour down."

"As long as our friend Thicknesse is not discovered before he has converted the rest," the Dark Lord said. "At any rate, it remains unlikely that the Ministry will be mine before next Saturday. If we cannot touch the boy at his destination, then it must be done while he travels."

"We are at an advantage there, my Lord," Yaxley added. He seemed determined to receive some portion of approval. "We now have several people planted within the Department of Magical Transport. If Potter Apparates or uses the Floo Network, we shall know immediately."

"He will not do either," Elizabeth said. "The Order is discarding any form of transport that is controlled or regulated by the Ministry; they mistrust everything to do with the place."

"All the better," Voldemort said. "He will have to move in the open. Easier to take, by far." Again, Voldemort looked up at the slowly revolving body as he went on, "I shall attend to the boy in person. There have been too many mistakes where Harry Potter is concerned. Some of them have been my own. That Potter lives is due more to my errors than to his triumphs."

The company around the table watched Voldemort apprehensively, each of them, by his or her expression, afraid that they might be blamed for Harry Potter's continued existence. Voldemort, however, seemed to be speaking more to himself than to any of them, still addressing the unconscious body above him.

"I have been careless, and so have been thwarted by luck and chance, those wreckers of all but the best-laid plans. But I know better now. I understand those things that I did not understand before. I must be the one to kill Harry Potter, and I shall be."

At these words, seemingly in response to them, a sudden wail sounded, a terrible, drawn-out cry of misery and pain. Many of those at the table looked downward, startled, for the sound had seemed to issue from below their feet. Elizabeth finally rolled her eyes.

"Wormtail," Voldemort said with no change in his quiet, thoughtful tone, and without removing his eyes from the revolving body above, "have I not spoken to you about keeping our prisoner quiet?"

"Yes, m-my Lord," gasped a small man halfway down the table, who had been sitting so low in his chair that it had appeared, at first glance, to be unoccupied.

Pettigrew scrambled from his seat and scurried from the room, leaving nothing behind him but a curious gleam of silver.

"As I was saying," the Dark Lord continued, looking again at the tense faces of his followers, "I understand better now. I shall need, for instance, to borrow a wand from one of you before I go to kill Potter."

The faces around him displayed nothing but shock; even Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed. He might as well have announced that he wanted to borrow one of their arms.

"No volunteers?" Voldemort said. "Let's see... Lucius, I see no reason for you to have a wand anymore."

Lucius Malfoy looked up. His skin appeared yellowish and waxy in the firelight, and his eyes were sunken and shadowed. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse.

"My Lord?"

"Your wand, Lucius. I require your wand."

Malfoy glanced sideways at his wife. She was staring straight ahead, quite as pale as he was, her long blonde hair hanging down her back, but beneath the table her slim fingers closed briefly on his wrist. At her touch, Malfoy put his hand into his robes, withdrew a wand, and passed it along to Voldemort, who held it up in front of his red eyes, examining it closely.

"What is it?"

"Elm, my Lord," Malfoy whispered.

"And the core?"

"Dragon - dragon heartstring."

"Good," Voldemort said.

He drew out his own wand and compared the lengths. Lucius Malfoy made an involuntary movement; for a fraction of a second, it seemed, that he expected to receive Voldemort's wand in exchange for his own. The gesture was not missed by Elizabeth or Voldemort, whose eyes widened maliciously.

"Give you my wand, Lucius? My wand?" Some of the Death Eaters sniggered. "I have given you your liberty, Lucius, is that not enough for you? But I have noticed that you and your family seem less than happy of late..." Elizabeth resisted the urge to look over at her boyfriend and kept looking straight ahead. "What is it about my presence in your home that displeases you, Lucius?"

"Nothing - nothing, my Lord!"

"Such lies, Lucius..."

The soft voice seemed to hiss on even after the cruel mouth had stopped moving. One or two of the wizards barely repressed a shudder as the hissing grew louder; something heavy could be heard sliding across the floor beneath the table. Nagini emerged to climb slowly up Voldemort's chair and Elizabeth eyed it, her lip suddenly feeling numb. It rose, seemingly endlessly, and came to rest across Voldemort's shoulders. He stroked the creature absently with long thin fingers, still looking at Lucius Malfoy.

"Why do the Malfoys look so unhappy with their lot? Is my return, my rise to power, not the very thing they professed to desire for so many years?"

"Of course, my Lord," Lucius Malfoy said. His hand shook as he wiped sweat from his upper lip. "We did desire it - we do."

To Malfoy's left, his wife made an odd, stiff nod, her eyes averted from Voldemort and the snake. To his right, his son, Draco, who had been gazing up at the inert body overhead, glanced quickly at Elizabeth, then Voldemort and away again, terrified to make eye contact.

"My Lord," said a dark woman halfway down the table, her voice constricted with emotion, "it is an honor to have you here, in our family's house. There can be no higher pleasure."

She sat beside her sister, as unlike her in looks, with her dark hair and heavily lidded eyes, as she was in bearing and demeanor; where Narcissa sat rigid and impassive, Bellatrix leaned toward Voldemort, for mere words could not demonstrate her longing for closeness.

"No higher pleasure," Voldemort repeated, his head tilted a little to one side as he considered Bellatrix. "That means a great deal, Bellatrix, from you."

"My Lord knows I speak nothing but the truth!"

"No higher pleasure... even compared with the happy event that, I hear, has taken place in your family this week?"

She stared at him, her lips parted, evidently confused.

"I don't know what you mean, my Lord."

"I"m talking about your niece, Nymphadora Tonks, Bellatrix. And yours, Lucius and Narcissa. She has just married the werewolf, Remus Lupin, your Godfather Elizabeth. You must be so proud."

Elizabeth's eyebrows furrowed and she looked to Snape, as an eruption of jeering laughter came from around the table. Many leaned forward to exchange gleeful looks; a few thumped the table with their fists. Remus had gotten married? Snape looked back at her and nodded. Elizabeth didn't know how to feel about that.

The great snake, disliking the disturbance, opened its mouth wide and hissed angrily, but the Death Eaters did not hear it, so jubilant were they at Bellatrix, Elizabeth and the Malfoys' humiliation. Bellatrix's face, so recently flushed with happiness, had turned an ugly, blotchy red.

"She is no niece of ours, my Lord, and no Godfather of Elizabeth's" she cried over the outpouring of mirth. "We - Narcissa, Elizabeth and I - have nothing to do with them!"

"Enough," Voldemort said, stroking the angry snake. "Enough."

And the laughter died at once.

"Many of our oldest family trees become a little diseased over time," he said as Bellatrix gazed at him, breathless and imploring. "You must prune yours, must you not, to keep it healthy? Cut away those parts that threaten the health of the rest."

"Yes, my Lord," Bellatrix whispered, her eyes swimming with tears of gratitude. "At the first chance!"

"You shall have it," Voldemort said.

The Dark Lord raised Lucius Malfoy's wand, pointed it directly at the slowly revolving figure suspended over the table, and gave it a tiny flick. The figure came to life with a groan and began to struggle against invisible bonds.

"Do you recognize our guest, Severus, Elizabeth?" Voldemort asked.

Snape and Elizabeth raised their eyes to the upside-down face. All of the Death Eaters were looking up at the captive now, as though they had been given permission to show curiosity. As she revolved to face the firelight, the woman said in a cracked and terrified voice, "Severus! Help me!"

"Ah, yes," Snape said as the prisoner turned slowly away again.

"Yes, though I had the good fortune of not witnessing her teach," Elizabeth said calmly, though her insides wanted to become outsides.

"And you, Draco?" Voldemort asked, stroking the snake's snout with his wand-free hand.

Draco shook his head jerkily. Now that the woman had woken, he seemed unable to look at her anymore.

"But you would not have taken her classes, either," Voldemort said. "For those of you who do not know, we are joined here tonight by Charity Burbage who, until recently, taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Yes... Professor Burbage taught the children of witches and wizards all about Muggles... how they are not so different from us..."

One of the Death Eaters spat on the floor. Charity Burbage revolved to face Elizabeth this time.

"Miss Evans... please... please..."

"Silence," Voldemort said, with another twitch of Malfoy's wand, and Charity fell silent as if gagged. Elizabeth didn't dare look away though she wanted to. "Not content with corrupting and polluting the minds of Wizarding children, last week Professor Burbage wrote an impassioned defense of Mudbloods in the Daily Prophet. She would have us all mate with Muggles... or, no doubt, werewolves..."

Nobody laughed this time. There was no mistaking the anger and contempt in Voldemort's voice. For the third time, Charity Burbage revolved to face Snape. Tears were pouring from her eyes into her hair. Snape looked back at her, quite impassive, as she turned slowly away from him again.

"Elizabeth, since you're so good at it..." Voldemort sent a pointed look towards Draco. "You have the honours..."

Elizabeth nodded calmly and took out her own dark wand, which the Dark Lord seemed to be eyeing curiously. Charity Burbage faced her once more. She ignored the bile rising in her throat.

"Avada Kedavra."

The flash of green light illuminated every corner of the room. Charity fell, with a resounding crash, onto the table below, which trembled and creaked. Several of the Death Eaters leapt back in their chairs. Draco fell out of his onto the floor. Voldemort gently patted Elizabeth on the shoulder.

"Dinner, Nagini."


	120. Potters

Death arrives among all that sound

Like a shoe with no foot in it, like a suit with no man in it,

Comes and knocks, using a ring with no stone in it, with no finger in it,

Comes and shouts with no mouth, with no tongue, with no throat.

Nevertheless its steps can be heard

And it's clothing makes a hushed sound, like a tree.

I'm not sure, I understand only a little, I can hardly see,

But it seems to me that its singing has the colour of damp violets,

Of violets that are at home in the earth,

Because the face of death is green,

And the look death gives is green,

With the penetrating dampness of a violet leaf,

And the somber colour of embittered winter.

But death also goes through the world dressed as a broom,

Lapping the floor, looking for dead bodies,

Death is inside the broom,

The broom is the tongue of death looking for corpses,

It is the needle of death looking for thread.

 _Only Death, Pablo Neruda_

* * *

Elizabeth looked at herself in the mirror: her porcelain skin was ashen, anemic; a cold sweat glistened on her forehead, her recessed cheek; the moss of her eyes had turned into a leaf that was desperately trying to cling onto the last bit of its chlorophyll, its life; hair so black against skin so white made a contrast that only served to make the girl look all the more ghostly, all the more haunting; lips that were once pink and soft, now chapped and bleeding. She looked almost like Bellatrix Lestrange. People had told her that too. Cold, calculating, indifferent, almost bored. But she felt like death. It was like a void. A dark void. A never ending dark void that consumed everything, so you were left feeling nothing. Empty. Nothing to subside your hollow soul that creeps in the shadows, away from any other human life for fear of hurting them, killing them. Nothing was okay, nothing would ever be completely all right.

Elizabeth wiped her tear stained cheeks and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to remove the image of herself from her mind. Her hand reaches for her Muggle makeup and applies it all over her face by hand, as if the traditional way of doing things was going to hide her sallow complexion better. After evening out her skin with porcelain foundation and getting rid of the garish purple circles under her eyes, Elizabeth applied her dark eyeshadow, eyeliner and mascara to bring out whatever colour remained in her green eyes. She finished with a layer of lipstick the colour of blood, making her look like she normally did. She almost looked like Snow White with her skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood and hair as black as ebony.

Elizabeth let her night gown fall to the floor in a small pile at her feet and stepped out of it. She put on her undergarments, her trousers, her shirt and socks before heading to her closet and fetching a long black cloak. She held it in her hands for a moment, desperately hoping that she'd suddenly wake up to find out this was a dream, but she swung it over her shoulders eventually and slipped on her shoes as she headed out her bedroom, cloak billowing ominously in her wake. Elizabeth confidently strode through the corridors of Malfoy Manor until she reached the front doors which swung open at her presence. Without making much sound, she walked down the driveway and to the gate where she raised her left arm to salute and walked through the iron-wrought gate as if she were passing through a puff of smoke.

Waiting for her there were a large number of Death Eaters all clad in black and wearing masks specific to each of their faces. She recognised Snape's and walked over to him, standing beside him with her hands behind her back. Snape glanced at her and nodded, silently asking if she was all right. She nodded back. Soon, the silence became more tense as the Dark Lord marched towards the young woman, clutching something in his hand. His red eyes scanned Elizabeth for what seemed like hours until he finally raised his hand and held out a mask made especially for her. If Elizabeth had been a true Death Eater, she would have been moved. Instead, she felt nauseous but more determined to get this job over with. The girl smiled anyway, keeping her cover, and put the mask over her face.

"Thank you to all those who have been faithful enough to me for them to be here," the Dark Lord said. "Remember our plan and remember theirs because tonight... I kill the Chosen One. Tonight, I kill Harry Potter."

No one dared to smile, not that Voldemort would have seen them. But they didn't cheer either. The Death Eaters knew that this was an important moment they shouldn't interrupt with pointless glee, or despair in Elizabeth's case.

"Now, let us not waste any more precious time, and let us ride the night sky."

Voldemort calmly walked away. The Death Eaters remained stationary for less than a second then suddenly vanished. Elizabeth closed her eyes and concentrated for a few seconds then jerked herself as if to spin and suddenly she too vanished into the air in a large wisp of black smoke. She could feel the cool air around her, the wind in her hair and she could feel her lightness. Looking down, Elizabeth could see little square lights that must have been windows, car headlights and the light from various lampposts on the streets of Britain. Up ahead however, Elizabeth spotted a dark spot amongst the clouds moving at a relatively similar speed as she was. She sped up and took her wand out, pointing it at the dark figure. Suddenly, all the other Death Eaters appeared and flashes of green and red began to fly in the night sky. The wind was too loud for Elizabeth to hear anything but screams and shouts.

As she was dodging a stunning spell from her Godfather, it suddenly came to her. Elizabeth pointed her wand nearest to the dark figure without hitting them and shot Sectumsempra at them (they weren't allowed to use the Killing Curse unless they were sure of the target in case they accidentally hit Harry). The jet of white light narrowly missed Remus and hit a wisp of black smoke which instantly reformed itself into a mask Death Eater, who subsequently plummeted to his death. Elizabeth swerved to avoid a Killing Curse from Moody, which got him an earful from Remus, and Elizabeth, very much angered, retaliated with Sectumsempra again, hitting him in straight in the chest this time. Just then, a roar sounded to Elizabeth's left and she was knocked sideways by a large and heavy object. After regaining her composure, she spat out some blood and flew after whatever hit her.

Hagrid was on his oversized motorcycle with a new attachment stuck to it. Harry was sitting in the sidecar, clutching onto his knees and... Hedwig. She and three other Death Eaters rushed after them, shooting spell after spell. Harry shot Stupefy over his shoulder and the four Death Eaters scattered to avoid it. At the same time, Elizabeth shot a Killing Curse in his direction, but it wasn't directed at Harry. Elizabeth heard him yell, which made her heart wrench, but she had to do it... She had to kill Hedwig. The Death Eaters knew that there were seven people disguised at Harry thanks to a trusted source. If any other Death Eater (save Snape) had seen this particular Harry with his owl, then they'd have known it was him.

Suddenly, a large brick wall appeared in midair and Elizabeth had barely enough time to swerve and avoid it. One of the Death Eater ran straight into the wall and began plummeting, but another went after him. Elizabeth didn't; she couldn't care less. She aimed Sectumsempra after Sectumsempra at Hagrid's back, but they either missed or Harry was deflecting them. She and the other Death Eaters easily evaded the net that burst out of thin air and the fallen Death Eater had even managed to catch up by then.

Out of nowhere, and with an unmistakably large roar, Fiendfyre burst from the motorcycle's tailpipe and flew at the four Death Eaters. Elizabeth reacted on instinct and shouted, Partis Temporum, creating a temporary gap in the cursed fire for the Death Eaters to pass through. They were almost caught up now. With a deafening clang, something major happened to the motorbike, though Elizabeth knew not what. All she knew was that Harry had blown something up in her face and that she had to avoid it. As she came back around and caught up with her fellow Death Eaters, she heard the familiar sound of Harry's voice yelling, Expelliarmus.

"That's him! That's the real one!" one of the Death Eaters yelled.

Elizabeth didn't miss the look of surprise on her brother's face when she and the other Death Eaters fell back. A few yards away, safe from harm, Voldemort was following the commotion. Elizabeth fell back to his side. She wanted to be the one to tell him.

"My Lord," she said, "he is with Rubeus Hagrid."

"Thank you, my dear," he replied.

Then the Dark Lord sped up and vanished into the clouds. After a few seconds, Elizabeth saw a golden light shine through the grey clouds. Happiness ran through her every vein. It had happened again. Even with Lucius' wand, Priori Incantatem still happened. Elizabeth flew forward, anger instead of happiness on her features, and witnessed the scene. The motorbike was falling rapidly, Death Eaters and Voldemort were yelling and then Harry hit them with the Fiendfyre once more. The Dark Lord shouted for someone else's wand and Selwyn gave up his. He pointed it at Harry but he suddenly vanished out of thin air. Voldemort shouted louder than Elizabeth had ever heard him. Harry and Hagrid had vanished through the Order's protective barrier. Just then, Elizabeth felt a sharp pain in her side and the world faded to black.

Elizabeth awoke some time later, a warm sensation across her side. She was lying down on something that felt like a bed and made fists with her hands to confirm that she was balling the sheets in her hands. The girl opened her eyes with difficulty and she saw that it was still dark outside. Elizabeth heaved sigh and banished the thought of killing Hedwig and potentially Mad-Eye Moody. She turned on her side. There lay Draco, grey eyes wide open and body completely at ease, his arm draped over Elizabeth's side. She reached out and brushed a lock of hair out of his face. He smiled softly and it made Ella's heart twist pleasantly. She smiled back at him and buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around him. Soon, Ella fell asleep listening to the hypnotic rhythm of his heart beat and the sensation of his fingers making circles on the small of her back.


	121. Wedding Crashers

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases;

It will never pass into nothingness;

But still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth

Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,

Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways

Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,

Some shape of beauty moves away the pall

From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,

Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon

For simple sheep; and such are daffodils

With the green world they live in; and clear rills

That for themselves a cooling covert make

'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,

Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms

We have imagined for the mighty dead;

An endless fountain of immortal drink,

Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

 _A Thing of Beauty, John Keats_

* * *

 _The wedding preparations were afoot. Mrs. Weasley kept Elizabeth so busy with them that she barely had any time to think. The kindest explanation of this behaviour would have been that Molly wanted to distract everyone from their thoughts of a dead Alastor Moody and all the other terrors they had been through in the past few days. After two days of nonstop floor cleaning, cutlery polishing, colour-matching favours, ribbons and flowers, of de-gnoming the garden and helping Mrs. Wealsey cook vast batches of canapés, however, Elizabeth started to suspect her of a different that moment on, Mrs. Weasley kept Harry, Ron, and Hermione so busy with preparations for the wedding that they hardly had any time to think. The kindest explanation of this behavior would have been that Mrs. Weasley wanted to distract them all from thoughts of Mad-Eye and the terrors of their recent journey. After two days of nonstop cutlery cleaning, of color-matching favors, ribbons, and flowers, of de-gnoming the garden and helping Mrs. Weasley cook vast batches of , however, Harry started to suspect her of a different motive. All the jobs she handed out seemed to keep her, Ron, and Hermione away from one another; she had not had a chance to speak to the two of them alone since the first night, when he had told them about Voldemort torturing Ollivander._

A loud scream of pain and terror made Elizabeth shoot up from her bed, body covered in a cold sweat that soaked the silvery sheets she was lying on. When she realised where she was, Elizabeth sighed and fell back onto her pillow. She turned her head towards the window and noticed light pouring through a crack in the drapes. The girl heaved a sigh and got up to take a hot shower, staying in for an extra twenty minutes to calm herself, to think. Her dream... It was the first time she'd seen into her brother's head. She didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. Surely, if Voldemort found out, he'd do anything to get the information out of her. That part wasn't good. But maybe she would be able to keep track of Harry. If this wasn't a one time thing of course.

She tried to clear her mind as she put on her makeup and clothes, but it was proving difficult. Through her dream, her vision, Elizabeth had learned that her spell killed Moody. She had killed a member of the Order, the people she was secretly still fighting for. How could she ever forgive herself for that? She learned that Harry, Ron and Hermione were staying at the Burrow until the wedding was over and done with. And that they were going off the hunt down the Dark Lord's Horcruxes. Seeing through her brother eyes, Elizabeth also found out that George had lost an ear thanks to Snape and Sectumsempra, that Remus was alive and that Mundungus Fletcher had deserted them. The fact that Remus was alive was a small comfort.

"You all right?"

Elizabeth looked away from the mirror and towards the voice. Draco was leaning in the doorway, a concerned look on his face. Ella smiled sadly and he nodded.

"Something came by owl for you today," Draco continued. "A parcel and a letter. Had to fight off Yaxley so he didn't open it to see if it was 'evidence of corruption amongst our peers'," he added, quoting.

"That man's as thick as a four-foot concrete wall," Liz chuckled, seating herself on her unmade bed. Draco sat beside her and handed her the post. "What d'you suppose it is?"

"Don't know, don't care. Unless it gets that frown off your face."

Elizabeth scoffed, smiling, and opened the letter first. She read it once, twice, three times. Her eyebrows furrowed every single time; it was a letter from the Ministry of Magic.

 ** _The Last Will and Testament of Albus Percival Wulfric Brain Dumbledore_**

 ** _To Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in hope that he will remember me when he uses it._**

 ** _To Miss Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, in the hope that she will find it entertaining and instructive._**

 ** _To Harry James Potter, I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill. I also leave him the Sword of Gryffindor, in hope that the purest of heart will always find help when they need it most._**

 ** _And to Elizabeth Rose Evans, I leave a bottle of Antidote to Rare Poisons, in hope that she knows when it is better to save another rather than oneself. I also leave her with words of advice: eyes speak the truth when the mouth is silent or tells one too many lies._**

Elizabeth opened the parcel and took out a small clear bottle filled with a dark green liquid. She examined it for a few seconds, opened it to smell it and identify its components, then put it in her book bag for later. What did Dumbledore mean by, 'it is better to save another rather than oneself"? Had he predicted someone's poisoning? If so, who? Did he leave the antidote with her because he knew that she had to be the one to save this person? And what about his 'words of advice'? Whose eyes spoke the truth, but mouth told nothing or lies? Were they the same person? Elizabeth stared at the bottle and letter. What was Dumbledore up to?

* * *

Footsteps echoed in the halls as dozens of heeled boots hit the marble floors of the Ministry of Magic. Faces were stiff with fear and mouths were glued shut. The Dark Lord glided across the hall, the crowd parting as if he were a king in a sea of filthy peasants. Elizabeth and a few other masked Death Eaters followed in his wake, including Bellatrix Lestrange, who was smiling wickedly as she dragged the floating dead body of Rufus Scrimegour, Minister for Magic, along with her.

In the silent crowd, Elizabeth spotted Kingsley Shaklebolt and, as soon as they made eye contact, she saw him discretely take out his wand. Without hesitation, Elizabeth drew her own and pointed it at him, but not before he muttered something and cast a powerful Patronus into the air. The lynx burst from his wand just as Elizabeth stunned Kingsley to the ground. She knew that he was warning them; warning everyone at the Burrow that Voldemort knew, and that they were coming.

"They know we're coming!" Elizabeth shouted, voice slightly muffled because of her mask.

"Go now!" the Dark Lord replied.

At once, every single Death Eater Apparated to the Burrow. It took merely a few seconds for the protective charms to be removed and then Death Eaters flooded the wedding ceremony. People were screaming and scrambling to Disapparate or simply flee from the spells that were shooting from both the Order members and the Death Eaters' wands.

A once beautiful orchard had turned into a war zone in a matter of seconds: the beautiful white and golden marquee was being dirtied and trampled on; the pure white robes of the waiters were stained with blood and mud; a haze of smoke clouded everyone's view; beautiful flower arrangements were blown up and destroyed, petals lying dead on the ground; exotic birds lay dead everywhere; precious gems broke and blew up everywhere, sending shards of glass into people's mouths and eyes; dinner tables were thrown across the yard, food ruined and stepped on; and stunned and dead bodies lay motionless on the grass.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elizabeth spotted Hermione, Ron and a small ginger boy she could only assume was Harry in disguise run off in the opposite direction of everyone else. She yelled at Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle to follow them and they nodded before disappearing along with the trio. Elizabeth cursed loudly as her arm was hit with a slashing spell. Blood spurted from her arm and soaked her black robes. Elizabeth angrily turned around and, with a violent slash of her own wand, she cast Sectumsempra at one of the Order members. The spell hit him straight in the face, making him stumble back and fall to the ground, instantly motionless. A small pang of regret flooded her system as she saw what she'd just done, but another spell came her way and she blocked it, tearing her mind away from the murder she'd just committed.

Suddenly, a roar of anger rang in Elizabeth's ears. Her Dark Mark began to burn almost immediately, telling her to retreat back to Malfoy Manor. As she was about to Apparate, however, a stunning spell hit her straight in the head and she fell back, mask slipping off her face in the process. Without wasting a moment, she grabbed her mask and stood, but she froze before she could Apparate. No one had jinxed her. She'd frozen out of fear. Her lifeless green eyes met sadness in the leaf green irises of Remus Lupin, whose wand was pointed directly at her. He could kill her, stun her, capture her. But he did none of those things. Instead, he lowered his wand and looked away. Elizabeth's cold demeanor melted away for mere seconds when Lupin looked back up at her, but her indifferent exterior soon returned when someone grabbed her arm. She put her mask back on and looked up. Recognising Snape's mask, she let herself be dragged off into the night, side-along Apparating to the gates to Malfoy Manor.

"He could have killed me," Elizabeth said quietly, as she and Snape walked up the lane to the manor house. "But he didn't."

"He's your Godfather, I should hope not," Snape replied.

"I would have killed me."

"Don't be stupid, Elizabeth. If you found out Lupin was with the Dark Lord, you wouldn't kill him either."

"You're wrong," Elizabeth said after a moment's hesitation. Snape glanced at her over his shoulder. "If Remus ever hurt someone in his werewolf form, I'd kill him."

"No, you wouldn't have."

"If you had asked me that question three years ago I would have given you that answer," Liz sighed. "But things have changed - I've changed. I don't know if it's for the better or for the worst, but I have changed, and I don't think I'm ever going back to the naive little girl I was in my third year; that stupid little kid who tried to see the best in people all the time. All I see is the worst, now.

"I'd like to think that I've changed for the best and that Dumbledore knew what he was doing when he assigned me to this mission. Mind you, even if he didn't know what he was doing, he made a compelling argument about my father that I couldn't exactly ignore."

"He spoke of your father?" Snape said, almost forcefully.

"Dumbledore said that by taking this mission I'd be helping him." Elizabeth chuckled dryly. "Don't know if I should have believed him. However, he did admit to putting my father in a shitty situation. But maybe he was just pulling at my heartstrings..."

There was a moment where neither of them spoke, the only sounds coming for the estate peacocks and fountain. When they reached the door, however, Snape spoke up.

"Elizabeth, I-"

"The Dark Lord wishes to speak with you!" Fenrir Greyback said as he burst through the front doors and grabbed Elizabeth by the arm.

Snape shot a spell at him and he was propelled five feet away. Greyback growled, his yellowed teeth bared, and made to grab Elizabeth again, but Snape stood in front of her and pointed his wand at the werewolf's chest. The girl frowned and put her hand on Snape's arm. He glanced at her for a few moments before lowering his wand.

"A simple sentence would have sufficed, Greyback," Elizabeth said sharply, walking in the drawing room's direction.

"He said it was urgent. Plus, I don't like you," the werewolf growled.

"You don't have to like me to deliver a message, you halfwit."

Greyback's growl was muffled by the sound of oak doors opening and the sound of a girl screaming. The moment Elizabeth walked through the doors to the drawing room, she was hit with an unfortunately familiar sensation. Pain coursed through every vein, her head was throbbing and her throat soon became raw from screaming; someone had hit her with the Cruciatus Curse. After was seemed like excruciating hours, Elizabeth fell limp to the floor, blood flowing from her nose, but tears refusing to fall.

"My dear, Elizabeth..." she heard a high, cold voice say. "I would have expected you to go after your brother... Did you not?"

"I did not, my Lord. I-"

She was cut off by the sound of her own screaming as the Dark Lord shot another Crucio at her.

"You didn't go after him? You didn't bring Harry Potter to me?"

"I was busy with Lupin, my Lord. I sent Dolohov and Rowle after him in my place."

As if on queue, the doors burst open and in ran Antonin Dolohov and Thorfinn Rowle, battered and bruised. Elizabeth almost smiled, knowing they'd most likely failed in capturing her brother. That was one of the reasons why she sent them after him, after all. After a few seconds of silence, someone came to help her up off the ground and stand properly.

"My sincerest apologies, my dear..." Voldemort said in a tone of voice that suggested he was lying. "Dolohov. Rowle. What is it you wish to tell me?"

"My Lord, we-"

"-have failed to procure me Harry Potter, yes, I was just told."

The Dark Lord gestured to Elizabeth who was being held up by Draco Malfoy. The girl glared at the two Death Eaters.

"My Lord, they-"

"Enough," Voldemort said coolly, raising a hand to silence them. "Tell me, Rowle, what did in fact happen?"

"Well, you see, my Lord, that's just it, I - we - don't remem-"

Voldemort hit Rowle with the Cruciatus Curse.

"We followed them to some Muggle cafe, my Lord, and that's all-"

Rowle was hit again.

"More, Rowle, or shall we end it and feed you to Nagini? Lord Voldemort is not sure that he will forgive this time." He glanced at Elizabeth. "Harry Potter has escaped again? Elizabeth, give Rowle another taste of our displeasure. Do it, or feel my wrath yourself!"

Elizabeth nodded and pushed herself off Draco. She was unsteady on her feet, but she managed to stand decently and point her wand at Rowle who cowered in fear. The girl quietly muttered, Crucio, and Thorfinn's body writhed and twisted in agony on the ground for what seemed like hours, every second of it just as much torture for Rowle as it was for Elizabeth...


	122. You're Welcome

I have been one acquainted with the night.

I have walked out in rain - and back in rain.

I have outwalked the furthest city light.

I have looked down the saddest city lane.

I have passed by the watchman on his beat

And dropped my eyes, unwilling to explain.

I have stood still and stopped the sound of feet

When far away an interrupted cry

Came over houses from another street,

But not to call me back or say good-by;

And further still at an unearthly height,

One luminary clock against the sky

Proclaimed the time was neither wrong nor right.

I have been one acquainted with the night.

 _Acquainted With the Night, Robert Frost_

* * *

It wasn't odd for Elizabeth to wake up in the middle of the night these days. Nightmares about torture, murder and suffering plagued her nearly every night. It was a good day if she got more than two hours of sleep. Draco rarely woke up when Elizabeth did, mostly because she always slipped a little sleeping potion into his glass of water on the bedside table. Tonight was not much different. Beads of cold sweat ran over the girl's entire body as she lunged upwards with a gasp, the image of herself torturing Garrick Ollivander waking her from her slumber. She stayed seated, running her hands over her face and through her tangled ebony hair. Elizabeth tried to steady her breathing. It took a while, but she managed eventually and, figuring that it was pointless to try and to back to sleep, she rose from the bed and went to the bathroom, glancing over her shoulder at the peacefully sleeping Draco Malfoy. A cold shower always did her some good. She would exit the bathroom shivering, her lips and fingers tinged with blue, but they'd soon return to their normal colour after she'd put on some clothes.

Often times, like tonight for example, Elizabeth would wander aimlessly around the manor, discovering new rooms nearly everyday. Once, she'd managed to find Lucius Malfoy's study and opted in drinking a glass or two of his expensive Elf-made wine that was laid on the desk for visitors to sip while in a meeting. Elizabeth avoided going on the west side of the manor for the simple reason that it was there that the bad things happened. It was in the west wing that Elizabeth tortured people, it was in the west wing that you could hear screams and cries from the dungeons, it was in the west wing that Voldemort stayed. Instead, she ventured towards the kitchen where she usually got a cup of tea from a house elf and sipped on it while she wandered around some more. Tonight, something different happened.

Walking down the main hallway of the manor and ignoring the looks she was getting from the paintings who were being disturbed by her wandlight, Elizabeth heard doors violently swing open. No one was awake at this hour - ever. Who could possibly be slamming doors around at two in the morning? Surely it wasn't Voldemort taking out his anger on Ollivander or Rowle, he was Merlin knows where looking for Merlin knows what. Lucius and Narcissa were most likely asleep and if they weren't, they'd stay locked in their bedroom if they heard anything remotely suspicious. Bellatrix and most of the Death Eaters were out on missions, so it couldn't be them either. Elizabeth raised her wand and jogged forward, lighting up the faces of pale and blond men as she went.

"What the hell are you doing?" Elizabeth whispered loudly, wandlight shining upon Severus Snape's face.

He didn't say anything but merely stared at her expectantly. The girl cursed mentally. He'd obviously tried to get into Grimmauld Place, but damn Moody must have place numerous hexes against both her and Snape so that they couldn't get in. It seemed that the late Alastor Moody had managed to knot Snape's tongue.

"Hello? Speak when spoken to," Elizabeth continued, earning her a glare. "I'm sorry, I don't speak mute."

Snape rolled his eyes and made to leave.

"Hey! All right, all right... Get your arse over here, then."

The professor stopped then turned after a moment's hesitation.

"I really don't understand why you can't do the counter-curse by yourself," Elizabeth said, matter-of-factly, putting out the light from her wand and lighting a few chandeliers instead. "I mean, there is this thing called non-verbal magic, you know. You should try it sometime." Elizabeth pointed her wand at Snape and muttered the counter-curse. "See? Good as new."

"Damn, Moody," Snape growled, storming off. Elizabeth blinked once then rapidly went after him. "It is one thing to work alongside him, another to work against him."

"And another to have killed him," Liz muttered. Snape either didn't hear her or ignored her comment.

"May I ask what you are doing wandering the halls at this obscenely early hour?" he said.

"Can't sleep... again. May I ask why the hell you went to Grimmauld Place at this obscenely early hour - or went there at all for that matter?"

Snape stayed silent.

"Hello, earth to Severus Snape?" Elizabeth said in a sing-song voice. "I didn't learn how to speak mute in the last two minutes, you know."

"I'd appreciate it if you kept your voice down, mademoiselle!" said a portrait.

"Oh, shut it, you great brute." Liz waved her wand and curtains shut in front of the portrait. "I'm not getting any younger, you know."

"It does not concern you," Snape said simply.

"Of course not, because whatever shit you get yourself into isn't my problem. We're in this together, ol' buddy, ol' pal - remember?"

"Don't."

"Don't what? Call you buddy? Call you pal? Wait, were you offended because I called you old?" Elizabeth mused. A smirk tugged at Snape's mouth. "There we go! The man has emotions!"

"Madame-"

"Can it, Armand!"

Elizabeth waved her wand again and curtains shut in front of Armand Malfoy's portrait. She could still hear his muffled French cursing.

"I see you've made some friends while you've been staying here," Snape said.

"Don't get cute with me, Snape," Elizabeth said, chuckling for the first time in a long time.

"It is nice to see you smiling again, Elizabeth."

"Yeah, well, don't get used to it. I've got Muggles to torture in the morning..."

"Technically, it is morning."

"Shut up."

* * *

 **SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER**

 **Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was today appointed headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post while her brother, Amycus, fills the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.**

 **I welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest Wizarding traditions and values- [cont. page 4]**

Attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was now compulsory for every young witch and wizard in Britain. Having Amycus and Alecto Carrow teach there was merely for entertainment purposes. This way, Voldemort Voldemort would have the entire Wizarding population under his eye from a young age. It was also another way of weeding out Muggle-Borns, and banning them from any education system in the world after they'd received proper punishment for their 'crimes'. Students were also required to be tested for their Blood Status - meaning that they had to prove to the ministry (and therefore the Death Eaters) that they were of Wizard descent - before they were allowed to attend. Save Draco and Elizabeth of course; they'd already been proven worthy of magical education.

No one dared to speak or even breathe in Draco and Elizabeth's direction when they boarded the Hogwarts Express on September first. They did look at them however. And very intensely for that matter. Everyone stared at the sleep-deprived Draco Malfoy, skin ashen and eyes reddened, as she walked hand-in-hand with Elizabeth, makeup hiding worse things on her on face. They observed them as they analysed how scared Malfoy looked and how indifferent Elizabeth looked. The students stared at them, pointing and muttering amongst themselves as to not let the couple hear them. But they especially glared at the thing that Elizabeth was no longer capable or allowed to hide; the Dark Mark throbbed incessantly on her left arm, telling her and everyone else just how bad things had gotten.

The few people who didn't know that Amycus and Alecto Carrow were Death Eaters didn't need that much time to figure it out, as they shouted Crucio at a student for being in the wrong compartment. Rapidly, every single student knew not to cross them, or Elizabeth and Draco, as the Carrows were the ones who were enforcing the visibility of the Marks on their arms. Whether Voldemort knew about this or not, Liz didn't care, she just hoped that this was the only thing that the Carrows made her and Draco do. After all, at Hogwarts, they were the ones in charge - Elizabeth wasn't the favourite anymore.

"I wish they'd just stopped looking at us," Draco said to Elizabeth after he had shut their compartment door and lowered the blinds.

"It's to be expected, Draco," Elizabeth sighed, beckoning her boyfriend over.

He sat down next to her and laid his head on her shoulder. Elizabeth's fingers immediately went up to stroke his hair.

"The Carrows made it clear that they were in charge at Hogwarts, and we can't really refute that, can we? Maybe the Dark Lord asked them to do this. Anyway, people are going to stare at what they're making us show off whether we like it or not, so we might as well just get used to it."

"I guess you're right..."

"Of course I'm right," Elizabeth chuckled. "I just hope that the Carrows don't make us do anything worse..."

Elizabeth had jinxed herself. At least it was just herself. Surely Lucius and Narcissa had something to do with the fact that Draco wasn't targeted by Alecto and Amycus Carrow.

Neither Elizabeth nor Draco took Muggle Studies classes, but they'd heard that the once Muggle friendly subject in teaching had turned into 'one-hundreds ways Alecto Carrow could insult Muggles and Muggle-Borns'. She taught the students that Muggles were like animals, stupid and dirty, that they drove wizards into hiding by being vicious towards them, and how the natural order was now being restored thanks to Voldemort. Apparently, she spent quite a bit of time insulting Elizabeth's mother, Lily, something she was told by a singular brave Gryffindor who attended the class.

Defence Against the Dark Arts was definitely worse. Elizabeth could deal with Alecto insulting her mother, though she very much hated it, but what Amycus was doing... it was inexcusable. The class was now know as 'Dark Arts' and there was no defence at all. Amycus taught the students new curses and hexes, he taught them how to cast the Imperius Curse and how to produce Fiendfyre. Students of all ages were force to practise these spells on their classmates. If they refused, Amycus sent them to detention. Detention was the worst place anyone could be. Argus Filch was happy to report that the dungeons were once again open for physical punishment. Every other Dark Arts class, students were brought down to the dungeons to do some 'practical learning'. The Cruciatus Curse was to be performed on the students who had received detention. Draco and Elizabeth weren't in the same Dark Arts class, which was a good thing since Elizabeth didn't want to get him involved in whatever stupidity she was going to do.

One dreary afternoon, Elizabeth and her classmates reluctantly walked down to the dungeons for their first weekly torture session. The Slytherins stood on one side, some of them wearing scared expressions, others, like Crabbe and Goyle, wearing excited ones. It seemed as though Crabbe and Goyle had replaced Draco. In the Dark Arts class anyway; they were always standing just behind Elizabeth as if guarding her, just like they used to do with Draco in their first years at Hogwarts. As for the girl, she was forced to stand at the front by Amycus. To the Slytherins' right stood the outraged Gryffindors. Every single one of them was looking at the detentionees with pity, with fright, with sadness. Every single one of them looked upon Elizabeth like they looked upon Amycus Carrow... with pure loathing. It sickened Elizabeth to think that everyone associated the same feelings to her and that poor excuse of a human being.

"Line up, my dears," Amycus said with a sneer, as the students entered the dungeon. "Welcome to my favourite part of the castle. On today's menu..."

With a wave of his wand, double doors at the back of the dark and damp dungeon slammed open. Filch stormed in clutching two students by the scruffs of their necks. Elizabeth heard Crabbe and Goyle chuckle as Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley stumbled in in front of the caretaker. Bruises and cuts littered their face and Liz resisted the urge to pummel Argus Filch to death. They were going to suffer the Cruciatus Curse, they didn't need an extra beating while in 'detention'.

"Unfortunately, we have to practise on Purebloods today, but no matter," Amycus said airily. "They've had dealings with Mudblood filth, so they're just as much of an insult to Wizard-kind as they are. Now, concentrate and - stop squirming!"

Ginny had managed to wriggle out of Filch's surprisingly strong grip and had tried to run off, but Amycus grabbed her arm and twisted behind her back, earning him a near inaudible squeal of pain. The Death Eater smiled maliciously as Neville struggled to get to her, but to no avail. The 'Professor' turned back to the group of students.

"Now... who wants to go first?"

Elizabeth blankly stared ahead, hoping that Carrow wouldn't call her out on this time. She was barely able to put the Cruciatus Curse on a complete stranger without bursting into tears or vomiting the entire contents of her stomach, how was she supposed to deal with torturing Ginny Weasley and Neville Longbottom, two people she'd been friends with... That seemed so long ago now.

"Miss Evans?" Amycus finally said, smirking evilly.

All heads immediately turned towards her. Elizabeth looked at Ginny. She was looking back angrily. Elizabeth looked at Neville. He was looking back terrified. The girl almost cried. She couldn't do this... not to them. The Slytherin looked over to Carrow and crossed her arms.

"Thank you for the offer, but I think I'll pass," she said simply.

Amycus' nostrils flared and he tossed Ginny back to Filch. Every student looked at Elizabeth with wide eyes. Did they really expect her to torture a student right then and there?

"You think you'll pass?" the 'professor' said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah," Elizabeth said airily.

"I'm not asking, Evans. You're up."

"No."

Elizabeth glanced at Ginny and Neville. Both of them looked shocked at the same time as relieved. She reluctantly looked back at Carrow as he took a step closer to her.

"The Dark Lord-"

"Isn't here," Elizabeth interrupted. "I don't take orders from you, Carrow. Never have, never will."

Amycus rose his wand and pointed at Liz's chest then said, "Oh, you will."

"I doubt it," the girl sighed, reaching out and making the wand point away from her. "What would the Dark Lord say if he heard you hurt his 'dear Elizabeth', hm?"

"It's like you said, Evans," Amycus said, pointing his wand back at Liz, "the Dark Lord isn't here."

"Quite true. Though you forget who the Headmaster is, Carrow. I doubt that Professor Snape would let you get away with putting the Cruciatus Curse on his favourite student."

With an angry growl, Carrow yelled, "CRUCIO!"

Pain immediately seared through Elizabeth's body better than a branding iron, her mind conceding to the torment, unable to bring a thought to completion. She crashed to the ground, body curling into the fetal position. The pain wasn't sharp like a needle point or a knife, it burned around inside better than boiling water. It was as though her blood had become acid, intent on destroying the girl from the inside out. Everything felt scolded and, whether Elizabeth moved or not, she was in more pain than she could ever imagine was possible. It was worse than the last time she endured the Cruciatus Curse. A bullet from one of those Muggle pistols would be a mercy right now; the pain was increasing in waves, small lulls giving false hope of an end. Each peak robbed Elizabeth's ability to speak, made her writhe, her groans of pain echoing off the walls.

"CARROW!"

The burning pain suddenly stopped, only to be replaced with a lingering numbness that still hurt. Looking up from the cold stone floor, Elizabeth tried to comprehend what was going on and where she was. Slowly, the memories came back; she'd defied Carrow... There was an insane amount of pain... And then there was yelling, and it stopped... was it Snape?

Elizabeth got up from the ground holding onto someone's arm for support. She looked up to see the Headmaster as he began leading her towards the dungeon doors. Elizabeth's body felt as if she'd been beaten and bruised the night before, her legs were shaky and could barely support her body weight yet her head was the only thing that felt heavy. She steadied herself and straightened to walk, but pain shot straight through her back like an igniting fire. Elizabeth's eyes squeezed closed and her jaw clenched, preventing her from contorting her face in pain and giving Carrow the satisfaction. Just before exiting, Elizabeth looked over at Neville and Ginny, who were both on the verge of tears, and, with her voice hoarse, she said:

"You're welcome."


	123. Breaking Point

The abyss of your eyes, full of horrible thoughts,

Exhales vertigo, and discreet dancers

Cannot look without bitter nausea

At the eternal smile of your thirty-two teeth.

Yet who has not clasped a skeleton in his arms,

Who has not fed upon what belongs to the grave?

What matters the perfume, the costume or the dress?

He who shows disgust believes that he is handsome.

Noseless dancer, irresistible whore,

Tell those dancing couples who act so offended:

"Proud darlings, despite the art of make-up

You all smell of death! Skeletons perfumed with musk,

Withered Antinoi, dandies with smooth faces,

Varnished corpses, hoary-haired Lovclaces,

The universal swing of the danse macabre

Sweeps you along into places unknown!

From the Seine's cold quays to the Ganges' burning shores,

The human troupe skips and swoons with delight, sees not

In a hole in the ceiling the Angel's trumpet

Gaping ominously like a black blunderbuss.

In all climes, under every sun, Death admires you

At your antics, ridiculous Humanity,

And frequently, like you, scenting herself with myrrh,

Mingles her irony with your insanity.

 _Danse Macabre, Charles Baudelaire_

* * *

 _"You're welcome."_

That sentence rang through Elizabeth's head as she and Snape made their way up to the Headmaster's office. Not that she even realised that's where they were going. Elizabeth was still in too much pain to even focus on her own breathing, so it came out jagged and at uneven intervals. She was becoming light headed fast. She felt like she was about to pass out, vomit her guts out on the floor before her. But she didn't, and soon she was sitting down in a comfortable chair in front of Snape's desk, hunched over with her head in her hands and elbows on her knees. Suddenly her shoulders began shaking and Severus Snape knew that she was crying.

As much as she tried to hold it in, the pain came out like an uproar from her throat in the form of a silent scream. The beads of water started falling down one after another, without a sign of stopping. Elizabeth suddenly stood and kicked the chair she was sitting in. Sobs wracked against her chest. Elizabeth was going to throw something, but hands firmly grasped her wrists, stopping her in her tracks. The girl struggled against it but the grasp grew tighter the more she tried to struggle. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. Pressure left one of her wrists and moved to her shoulder. Elizabeth punched aimlessly in front of her, hitting something she couldn't see through the tears in her eyelashes. Suddenly she was pulled forward and was trapped in a strong embrace. Elizabeth repeatedly hit Snape's chest until she tired herself out. She held onto the front of the man's robes, desperate not to collapse, her sobs muffled by said robes. Elizabeth had reached her breaking point.

Elizabeth and Severus stayed like that until the girl's sobs died down to mere hiccoughs. Neither of them knew or cared how long that was, though. Merlin only knew how much Elizabeth needed a shoulder to yell, punch and cry on. Doing something like this to Draco was out of the question, for sure; he had enough problems of his own and Ella didn't even think of dumping her own on him. That would be cruel. She was surprised how easily - and how frequently - she broke down in front of her professor however. Was there some magical on and off switch that was triggered every time she was vulnerable around him?

Elizabeth dared to open her eyes. At first, the tears stuck to her eyelashes blurred her vision, but blinking a few times made them disappear. That's when she realised that she wasn't in Dumbledore's old office, but in what was supposed to be Snape's old office. It still looked lived-in, parchment and books scattered across two or three tables and a cauldron with silver vapor billowing out of it sat on a nearby work station, the sweet smell of the Draught of Peace reaching Elizabeth's nose. Even the fumes managed to calm the girl down.

"You haven't moved to Dumbledore's office?" Elizabeth asked as she pried herself from Snape.

She was clearly avoiding the subject of her breakdown, Snape knew. Elizabeth walked over to the cauldron, looking everywhere but at her professor. She hovered over the bubbling liquid and reached for the powdered moonstone, adding half a measure to the potion. It sizzled and turned a more vibrant shade of turquoise than before. Liz grabbed a nearby quill and noted her change on the scribbled instructions that Snape had modified over and over again.

"I haven't, no," Snape replied simply, sitting down at his desk all the while keeping an eye on the girl.

"Why not? It is your office now."

"I feel it would be disrespectful."

"It wouldn't be," Elizabeth said sharply, fists clenching. "He was half the man you are. Risking your life for that idiotic old man while he just sat there and played puppet master with me and Harry."

"Elizabeth-"

"You know what's disrespectful?" Liz shouted, turning to face Snape. "Me pointing my wand and not even hesitating. Do you know why I didn't hesitate?"

Snape sighed and shook his head, deciding against speaking.

"I didn't hesitate because he got what he deserved, because he had it coming to him. Don't look at me like that, you know it's true." The girl was pacing the room now. "He left Harry with the only family we had, and that family turned out to be the worst lot of Muggles you could ever dream up. He knew that Harry was 'the Chosen One' or whatever and instead of letting him have a decent first half of his life, he shoves him with people who starve him, who bully him, who don't even care about him. Meanwhile, here I am living a cushy life with a bunch of teeth healers who make a crap ton of money and give me whatever the hell I want, when I want, because I want it. He intentionally made Harry's life a living hell and that's why that bastard got what was coming to him!"

"But you were never happy either, were you?"

Elizabeth stopped pacing the room and looked straight at Snape, his question catching her off guard. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Was she ever happy with the Grangers? Now that she thought about it, she realised that even though she got everything she'd ever wanted, she had never truly been happy... ever. Pointless objects and piles of presents at her birthday never satisfied her. She always brushed it off as being a typical greedy child. But then large family get-togethers for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter surrounded her with people, but she always felt lonely. Could Elizabeth write that off as her being a typical attention-seeking child as well? No, she couldn't. She couldn't because she never sought out people's attention when she was younger, she still didn't.

Elizabeth realised she'd never truly believed or accepted the Grangers as her parents. Was it because they always seemed to give Hermione more affection than her? Was is because she didn't look anything like them and that told her something, even as a young girl? Did those feelings grow worse the older she got? It's true she got more resentful as she aged. It was also true that she lost it when she finally found out that her parents weren't her real parents. Had she subconsciously known that all along? Is that why she never felt happy? Because she knew deep down that she wasn't supposed to be there?

This raised another question. What did happen to her exactly? Elizabeth refused to believe that Dumbledore had no idea that the Grangers had a magical child and that it was pure coincidence she and Hermione became sisters. Had Dumbledore known all along and placed Elizabeth there on purpose? Maybe. She would probably never know. What about her parents? Her real parents. Of course, Elizabeth knew that Lily had really married James Potter and legitimately had their son, Harry. But from Elizabeth had heard, Lily didn't seem like the kind of person to go off and have an illegitimate child with some other random bloke, and a whole year prior to her brother, too. He must have been some guy...

"Elizabeth?" Snape said, breaking the girl's train of thought.

"Yes?" Elizabeth said, shaking a few thoughts from her head.

"Are you all right?"

"Yeah, yeah... I was just thinking."

"About?" Snape inquired.

Elizabeth sighed and walked back towards Snape's cauldron.

"The Mirror of Erised," Elizabeth replied truthfully, adding a few porcupine quills to the potion. She jutted it down on the instructions and crossed out the previous sentence. "I wonder if I'd see my father's face if I looked in the mirror."

"I don't think it would be wise to pursue the Mirror, Elizabeth," Snape said.

"No, I know... But I'm tired of not knowing who he is and I've go other means of finding out. Well, except for him telling me... Apparently he's alive. Still, I'm not in the mood for trusting Dumbledore's word."

"You think he's dead?"

"I hope not."

Snape nodded and Elizabeth sighed. It was suddenly quiet in the office, as either of them spoke for a while. Elizabeth stayed in Snape's office while he graded papers, going through all his potion notes one book at a time, drinking in all the information. She hadn't gotten the opportunity to read through his old textbook, but this was even better. It was nearly time for dinner by the time one of them spoke.

"May I ask why you chose to have the Cruciatus Curse inflicted on yourself rather than Weasley and Longbottom?"

"I already have enough trouble keeping my composure when I do those things to people I don't know, I couldn't even process the though of me doing it to someone I did know. Besides, Ginny was one of the last people who still had faith in me before the summer holidays... I can't just ignore that, can I?"

"I can understand that, Elizabeth, but the Carrows can't. They won't hesitate in relaying this kind of information to the Dark Lord; you can't risk breaking your cover."

"What does it even matter?" Elizabeth sighed. "I only joined because Dumbledore wanted more information on Him, and well, he's dead, had you not noticed."

"Did he not say that you would be helping your father?" Snape said.

"Yeah, he did, but if my father was really in deep enough trouble that required my assistance, he'd grow a pair and yell for me. I want to think that I'm helping him, but if I have no confirmation that I am... what's the point?"

Elizabeth looked at the clock and stood.

"Are you thinking of turning on Him?" Snape asked, seemingly worried.

"I'd be a coward if I didn't consider rebelling." Liz chuckled humourlessly. "One thing is for sure, Severus... I'm not going to be under his employ for much longer."


End file.
